


Красная Дочь (Red Daughter)

by RogueTiger



Series: Supercorp [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon Compliant - mostly, F/F, Red Daughter deserved a happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2019-12-26 16:53:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18286376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RogueTiger/pseuds/RogueTiger
Summary: Thanks to Red Daughter being an innocent Kaznian puppy over Lena, I caught all the feels and this scene popped into my head.Set after 'House of L' it is canon compliant up until then as far as my brain will let me remember.Lames is done and I don't care how the writers portray it from now on LAMES IS DEAD!!!**********It has been a week since Lex's manipulation of Lena led to the reveal of Red Daughter to the world when Lena has an unexpected visitor.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AN - to tell you all the truth, I have only a faint idea as to where this story might lead. I wasn't even going to post this (I'm sure there are much better stories out there already). But, after being compelled to write over 5000 words to get it out of my head, I decided that you all should suffer with me ;)
> 
> AN2 - Anything spoken in Russian will be indicated by **_bold italics_**. Google translate isn't my friend and i don't want to put anything down wrong.
> 
> AN3 - This story is in no way tied in with my other Supercorp story.
> 
> AN4 - I do not have a beta and all mistakes are my own. I try to catch them all but they will slip in. Also, I am English so I will add U's to words and no doubt write things that will have readers from other countries wondering what I'm talking about... sorry but I can't help it :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words spoken in Russian are in **_bold italics_**.

The soft thud of boots upon the balcony of her, until then off-limits for visits from Supers, penthouse apartment was once a sound that had Lena’s heart soaring in anticipation in a Pavlovian response to the sound, and racing at the sight of blonde hair and blue eyes. But that was before Lena and National City’s resident hero had clashed. Harsh words their weapons. Ego’s their shields. Stubborn pride the thing that kept their ‘relationship’ from returning to its former comfortable levels.

There was something different about the sound this time, something that had Lena’s brow furrowing before it could even register. Placing the pen she had been using to sign the stack of proposals and contracts down upon the dining table she had been using as a makeshift desk with a decisive, disapproving, CLICK, Lena started to spin around on her chair with sharp dismissive words ready to spill from her mouth.

The words were strangled off, her jaw clicking shut as she scrambled from her chair. Fear raced through her, rendered her movements jerky as she backed away from the figure standing in the doorway. A figure that was achingly familiar with flowing golden hair and sky blue eyes, the cape hanging from strong shoulders billowing out artfully on a breeze that brought it around to frame the diamond-shaped crest emblazoned upon her chest.

The woman that stepped over the threshold into her apartment wasn’t who she appeared to be at first sight though. Her bearing was different; strong and decisive, no motion wasted. Her every action holding the weight of someone that had had military standards drilled into them. And her outfit was steely dark and forbidding, not the red and blue one that brought hope to the deserving and fear to those that weren’t. The cape was longer, darker, brushing against legs encased in practical, form-fitting pants instead of revealing tights. And the emblem on her chest was designed by her brother, Lex, to recreate the instinctive fear left over from the days of the cold war, unlike the one Reign wore that had caused fear because Reign had created it with her actions.

 _ **“Red Daughter!”**_ her voice was hushed and too panicked for Lena’s liking but, as quiet as it was spoken, the woman before her heard, her mouth twisting into a soft smile in apparent appreciation for her use of Russian even though it was no doubt beyond rusty.

“Lena.”

Lena stiffened, her feet freezing so suddenly in her retreat around the couch that she nearly tripped over her own feet at the unbelievable, undeniable softness of her roughly accented voice.

“My Lena… **_Kitten_**.”

“What-what are you doing here?” Spine snapping straight, Lena ignored, for the sake of her own sanity, the fact that Red Daughter seemed to have called her, hers and started to retreat once more as the woman took another step closer. She wondered momentarily if shouting for Supergirl would bring the Girl of Steel flying to her rescue. But even as the thought was born she wondered if even Supergirl would be quick enough to make a difference… and… if she would even rush to her aid at all with the further strain her decision to help Lex had put on them and the world.

What was she to do though?

For all his many, many homicidal faults, Lex was still her brother and, as she had told him, he couldn’t pay his debt to society if he was dead from cancer. The fact that he had deliberately given himself cancer and played her for his own end… that, she should have expected instead of been drawn in by his stories of her mother designed to tug on her heart and the fond memories of their relationship before his madness had had him killing so many innocents in an attempt to swat at a god by attempting to turn the sun red in a move that would have killed everyone on the planet if he had been successful.

“You need to leave, now!”

A whoosh of breeze reach Lena, ruffling her hair around her face a fraction of a second _after_ Red Daughter’s hand was wrapped around her wrist in an unbreakable but surprisingly gentle grip that kept her hand from reaching her cell phone. Lena’s eyes darted from the hand to the blue eyes of the Kryptonian and found her jaw clicking shut again at the shock in the blue eyes as the followed the same motion as hers from hands to eyes. Her fingers tightened, pulling a gasp from Lena’s throat at the sudden pressure from a touch that could turn marble to dust with a careless swipe.

The gasp turned from one of dawning pain to one of wonder as Red Daughter’s hand loosened its hold; shock and… was that regret that passed behind her eyes like a shadow before she held her still with her determined gaze while she crushed Lena’s phone with ease?

“No calls!”

“What do you want?” Lena made to back away again but the twitch of Red Daughter’s body poised to react stilled her. “Did-did Lex send you?”

“Alex,” she corrected Lena gently but firmly.

Lena struggled to school her expression as Red Daughter unwittingly handed her a piece of the puzzle as to how she had fallen under the sway of Lex. The softness of her voice was the same as Kara’s when she spoke of her sister and did not belong falling from the lips of her clone. A feeling that Red Daughter obviously seemed close to sharing going by the crinkle marring her brow.

Reaching out despite the voice in her head urging her to take advantage of Red Daughter’s distraction, Lena ran her fingers across the steel chorded muscle of her forearm. “Lex is not the same as Alex,” she spoke as gently as her touch, begging for her to believe her and open herself up to the truth.

“Alex is a good man,” Red Daughter insisted, her chest puffing out with pride.

“He really isn’t,” Lena sighed at the unshakable faith in Red Daughter's voice.

“How can you speak so of your brother? This _country_ ,” she spat the word out, “it has corrupted you, Lena Luthor. I will protect you from it!” she nodded decisively.

“What? No!” Lena scrambled backwards, trying to evade the grasp of the woman. She had no idea what Red Daughter had planned, but neither the determination on her face nor her words, boded well for Lena and, damn it, she had had enough!

Just in the past week, she had been…

Manipulated by Lex.

Her ex-whatever-the-hell James was, had been shot to force her hand in testing the serum created from the Harun-El.

She had been chloroformed.

Her assistant had turned out to be a plant.

Her best friend’s secret identity had been revealed to her by said ex-assistant.

And…

Between duking it out, the DEO, Supergirl and Lex had alternated between laying the blame at her feet and trying to get her on their side.

Oh!

And she was having to fight off an ill thought out hostile takeover bid by Maxwell Lord of all people.

“You _will_ come with me!”

“Don’t!”

The wall of glass exploded inwards, jagged, lethal shards rocketing across the apartment right towards her.

Lena saw it as though in slow motion, her breath catching with the realisation that her time was up. Of all the ways to go, it was going to be death by a thousand cuts, her corpse looking like an abused pin cushion.

Her vision went dark and… startlingly, there was no pain?

She barely had time to register Red Daughter sheltering her behind the protection of her body and swept out cape before her unexpected rescuer was swept up by a furious blur of red and blue and the few remaining windows exploded outwards as Kara dragged her opponent out into the night.

**********

Kara’s fists clenched tight, her bones feeling like they were about to crack under the weight of her frustration as she punched her way out of the bricks and concrete that had fallen on top of her after Red Daughter had punched her out of the sky straight into the side of a building.

Pushing off from the ground hard enough to leave divots where she had stood, Kara rocketed up, her body twisting and spiralling as she raked her eyes around in search of the other woman… but the night sky was empty.

Kara strained her ears for the slightest hint of a startled cry but, as seemed to be the case more often than not, she found her ears filled with the thud of Lena’s heart.

It was what had drawn her across the city from where she had been curled up on the couch under one of her many throw covers watching a movie with Alex while they worked their way through a mountain of snacks. The sudden burst in the speed of Lena’s heart had been like a siren going off in Kara’s head that had had her suddenly blurting out a startled cry of “Lena!” that had nearly knocked Alex off the couch.

Not all that long ago that would not have been a problem. They would have simply rushed to check on Lena together but now that her sister’s mind had been wiped clean of the knowledge that she was an alien and was Supergirl, it had resulted in a rushed and convoluted word vomit about needing to text her friend to make sure she had actually gone home for once. And then Kara had escaped to her bathroom, changed into her suit using her super speed and had called Alex… no, Director Danvers, as Supergirl as she had escaped out of her own flat like a fugitive and taken to the sky.

With danger apparently fleeing into the night, Kara took off back towards Lena’s penthouse apartment… Albeit at a much slower rate than she had gotten there as she could hear the bite in Lena’s voice as she berated the DEO agents milling around her home.

“Lena—”

“No! It is out of the question, Alex! Until the day comes where you can provide agents to guard _everyone_ in National City I’m not going to take them away from important jobs when I’ve got my own security to guard me.”

“They didn’t do you much good tonight, Lena.”

“Would any of your own people have done any better against Red Daughter? Or would they have just ended up dead trying to go against her? No. I underestimated her but it won’t happen again.”

“You should take Al- Director Danvers up on her offer, Lena.”

“Come to pay for the damages you caused, Supergirl?” Folding her arms, Lena arched a brow at Kara as she came in through the window… or where the window should have been and alighted before them. “Get your hands off those files!”

Kara grimaced as Lena suddenly fixed her attention on a poor unsuspecting agent and stormed across the room to snatch a pile of folders out of their hands. It was probably wrong of her but Kara was actually thankful for the distraction as Eve’s reveal of her superhero activities had made their strained relationship a thousand times worse. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if Kara hadn’t acted in panic and accused Lena of just being a Luthor that time and then had asked James to take a look in her safe to make sure there was no more Kryptonite.

It had not been Kara’s finest moment by a long shot and a hurt and defensive Lena was like trying to handle a wild animal… a sweet and fluffy looking feral kitten that looked like it needed a hug but would scratch your eyes out given half a chance.

Kara had been able to give Lena the comfort and friendship she had needed while Supergirl had been on the outs with her, but Eve had done her reveal with her ‘I quit… oh, and by the way, Kara Danvers is Supergirl’ letter. With Lex and everything else, they had had the chance to meet only once where Lena had shown Kara the letter and Kara had had to beg Lena not to say anything to Alex. Since then it had been silence and glowers and…

Kara missed her friend more than ever.

She missed their brunches and lunches, their movie nights that had become sleepovers. She missed their back and forth texting and trying to teach Lena the art of the emoji. She missed the long looks Lena would give her that would make her feel seen…

Kara just missed her.

“How is everything going at the DEO?”

“You know I can’t discuss that with you, Supergirl,” Alex rebuked her, pausing to fire off an order to an agent who apparently thought it was okay to just stand around doing nothing before turning her attention back to the alien standing before her kicking at the carpet with the toe of her boot like a chastised child. Gripping her by the shoulder, Alex turned her aside so she could talk somewhat privately. “Not that we don’t appreciate it, you did save Ms Luthor’s life after all, but, how did you get my private cell phone number?”

“I—” oh shoot! She’d pressed the link on the wrong phone in her haste to get to Lena!

“I don’t even think that my life was in any danger. At least not until Supergirl sent glass flying everywhere.”

Kara’s shoulders hunched under the weight of Alex’s fiercest ‘Director’ stare and Lena’s still sharp voice. Usually one of the other would have been on her side but to have both of them turned against her… Well, it sucked and had her seriously considering just flying out of there and heading home to devour whatever snacks were left!

“The DEO doesn’t always see eye to eye with Supergirl but Red Daughter _was_ in your home, Lena. She saved your life.”

Lena glanced towards Kara at Alex’s cold statement, her friend? ex-friends? sigh while soft was enough to take the edge off Lena’s ire at having her personal space invaded. Even if Alex apparently couldn’t, she could see the hurt in Kara’s eyes and the way her throat and jaw worked as though she was swallowing something bitter as she looked at her adopted sister and found none of the love and affection she was used to seeing.

“Did Red Daughter give any indication as to what she wanted?” Alex leaned forward eagerly.

“Not really. She seemed… confused. Then she decided I needed protecting from myself and tried to grab me. That was when Supergirl burst in… The door was open you know, there was no need to destroy the windows,” she jibed at her again.

“I—” Kara pursed her lips ready to defend herself but a familiar and much missed playful glint in Lena’s eyes stilled her words in confusion.

“I take it that Supergirl related damages are no longer covered by the DEO?”

Kara’s mouth dropped open as Alex gave a quick shake of her head. Seriously? Now she was supposed to worry about lawsuits while protecting the world? It was starting to feel like she’d stepped into ‘The Incredibles’ movie and while meeting Elastigirl and Edna Mode would be cool, Kara had no desire to live in a world where saving people was against the law.

“I think we need to talk, Supergirl… take insurance details or discuss payment plans? If you will excuse us, Alex. Oh, and make sure your agents keep their hands to themselves!”

Kara gave a ‘what can I do’ shrug in Alex’s direction as Lena marched away, snatching a file out of a agent's hands and adding it to the pile in her arms on the way… Not that it was needed as her sister had already dismissed her from her mind and turned away. Sighing, her heart aching, Kara hurried deeper into the depths of the vast penthouse after Lena. In flats instead of towering heels, her friend was more nimble than usual and Kara had to pause for a moment to pick out the beat of Lena’s heart to work out just which of the many doors to open.

“You do know I haven’t got any insurance or money for that matter… right?” She did reasonably well on her reporter’s salary but that was from living in a rent controlled area to help offset her expensive groceries bill. Without the DEO helping her any more things were even tighter.

“Don’t touch the lights!”

Kara froze, her fingers twitching above the switch nervously.

“You might feel a little—”

“Ow! Lena!” Kara whined, rubbed at her temple as a wave of tingling burst across her head. It wasn’t painful as such but it also wasn’t pleasant and she let Lena know that with the glower she shot her way as she turned on a desk lamp and illuminated the dark panelled study that looked more like something Lex would appreciate rather than Lena who usually preferred a more clean and bright aesthetic.

“Stop being a baby,” Lena stated not in the least bit sorry about Kara’s slight discomfort at all. “With our _friend_ flying around outside and ears on the inside, I thought it best to have some privacy.”

“I thought we agreed that you would tell me if there was anything that could harm—”

“Agreed to disagree,” Lena cut her off with a wave of her hand. Seriously, it wasn’t like she knew _everything_ about Kryptonian physiology nor was allowed access to test on Kara and yet she expected her to run to her with everything she invented in case it _might_ do something to her? “I did not design this to hurt you or Superman. It just happens that the technology I used to block listening devices also works on nosy Kryptonian’s.” Which she knew from trying it as a way to contain Reign before developing it further into the shield that had worked better to hold her.

“And the lights?” Kara gestured back towards the light switch questioningly. “Why didn’t you want me to turn it on?”

“I _am_ a Luthor. If there is one thing we all share, it’s a flair for the dramatic.”

Kara felt the warmth of their familiar banter buoying her, soothing her troubled heart but it didn’t explain… “Okay, why all the secrecy?” Moving across the room, Kara propped her hip up on the edge of the desk near Lena. With everything hanging between them she half expected Lena to move away. She steeled herself for the rebuttal and instead found herself having to resist the urge to reach for her friend's hand or lean into the warmth of her body as Lena stayed where she was.

“Red Daughter.”

“What about her?” Kara shifted on the desk, turning to look urgently at Lena’s profile. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

“No! And stop that,” Lena warned as Kara got a look of focus that said she was moments away from x-raying her with her eyes to check for herself. “She didn’t hurt me. I swear.”

“Okay… Then, what?”

“She knows Alex. She said her name.”

“Yeah, when I was on holiday, as well as visiting you at L-Corp, Alex had a run-in with her.” Kara bit her lip at the sharp look on Lena’s face. Red Daughter’s visit to America, and subsequent meet-ups with both Alex and Lena had come to light only after Eve had tried, and succeeded, in driving a wedge between them with her letter. It had resulted in Lena questioning what had happened and piecing it together once Red Daughter had appeared on the scene. But they hadn’t been able to say anything to Alex herself. How could they explain without risking everything they had done to protect Kara’s secret?

It was still so strange to think of for Lena. She had thought at the time that there had been something off with Kara that day. Her gaze too avid and intent as though she was awestruck and wanted to… well, she wasn’t sure if the look had been more that she’s wanted to just strip her naked or that she wanted to dissect her? And Lena still wasn’t entirely sure. In fact, she was even less unsure after Red Daughter had turned up and tried to kidnap her to protect her but at the time she hadn’t known about Kara being Supergirl or that the black kryptonite had created a clone of her so she had just dismissed the whole thing from her mind after Eve had distracted her with an only slightly fake emergency in lab C.

“It was the way she said it, Kara. It was more than a name to her, there was a weight and love behind it… the love you feel for Alex. Only I think… no, I’m sure that Lex is passing himself off as her Alex and using that against her.”

“She’s a clone—”

“Created by the black kryptonite from a point in time where you had all your adult memories. All your love for your sister. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that she hasn’t got all your memories, else Lex wouldn’t be able to control her how he is. But… Kara, she is still _you_. She still has your goodness and light. And apparently your feelings for Alex… who doesn’t know who you are right now,” she huffed in frustration.

“Lex is the kind of jerk that will keep your secret identity a secret simply because it gets him nothing to reveal it—”

“Like Lillian.” Biting her lip, Kara glanced Lena’s way out of the corner of her eye.

“Exactly like Lillian,” Lena glared at a point between her feet on the carpet in bitter anger at the thought that her mother had worked out Kara’s secret and kept it from her just because she had known it would hurt her just as much as it had. “That is in the past now though.”

“Lena—”

“No! Past! Done!”

“Little boxes?”

Lena arched a brow. It sounded like she needed to have a word with Brainy about his apparent fondness for discussing her coping methods with people. “Damn straight!”

“That’s probably not very healthy, Lee.”

“Neither is the whiskey I plan on drowning myself in once this mess gets sorted out,” she huffed. “But! Getting back to our _Red_ problem. Lex, is methodical and cruel, a master manipulator… Red Daughter is… She’s _you_.”

“And what does that mean?” Kara frowned, feeling like she was being insulted not so subtly.

Lena crossed her arms, painted nails tapping against her flesh. She had intended to just leave her hypothesis there but… Well, Kara had asked.

“You act rashly, Kara. You fly headfirst into danger, following your heart instead of waiting and assessing…” her tone softened before she could steel herself to stay strong. “Red Daughter is, I think, made up of the same stuff and her heart knows Alex is a part of her life just as yours does. She just doesn’t know how much Alex means and it could be something that could be used to lure her in so you can talk her around or so she could be contained.”

Lena met Kara’s blue gaze more fully for a moment. She could almost see the workings of Kara’s mind as she weighed the options she was being given. Although Lena was want to ignore safe working practices in the laboratory at times she insisted that the people that worked for her did. That they considered every possibility and thought things through with as many facts available to them as they could gather. As such, she needed to make sure that the headstrong, heart-following, woman at her side considered the biggest downfall.

“That could be the way forward but at the same time, it could expose your secret and god knows what _that_ could do to Alex after she’s had all her memories of you being Supergirl whipped from her mind. Seriously?” she bit out. “There was no other way?” Lena threw up her hands in exasperation.

“It hurt like hell just to find out that my friend had been lying to me for _two whole years_! To find out that you didn’t trust me,” she cut Kara off with a wave of her hand before they could get locked in another heated and pointless round of explanations and apologies. “I can’t imagine what it might do to Alex if she suddenly found out that her sister was an alien… The questions that might bring up in her mind! I didn’t have as many interactions with Alex outside of games nights and emergencies but working at the DEO… even I could see how her stance on aliens had shifted without the memories of your time together to shape her. Jesus!”

“It wasn’t my decision,” Kara mumbled sadly. Wiping Alex’s mind had been the last thing she had wanted but Alex had insisted that it had to be done to protect all of them. Their friends and family. She didn’t think either of them could have imagined how bad it would be though. With that one act, Kara as Supergirl had lost the trust of her sister and it had changed Alex in ways they were still discovering to have all those early interactions with an alien wiped from her mind.

“Maybe not… but there had to be a better way. Hell, you could have come to me and I would have helped. And for the record, if J’onn comes at me with his mind tricks it will be the last thing either of you do.”

Kara blinked owlishly under Lena’s dangerously narrowed gaze. She had no idea how Lena thought she would be able to counteract a Martian mind-wipe, only that she was in no-doubt that Lena was formidable enough to carry out her threat.

“Got it… Wasn’t going to. Wouldn’t dream of it! But… got it.”

“Good,” smiling softly, Lena patted Kara’s hand and hopped down off the edge of the desk. “Anyway, I just thought you should know as we can’t say anything to Alex. And now I have,” cocking an eyebrow, Lena let Kara know she should leave.

Pausing with her hand on the door handle, Kara glanced back over her shoulder and watched Lena tsking under her breath as she brushed shards of glass off the folders she had placed on the desk. “Lee?”

“Yes?”

“Red Daughter came here, to you. She didn’t go to Alex.” Lena’s hands stilled but her eyes remained fixed upon the contents of the desk. “She didn’t go to Eliza or any of my other friends… why did she come here?”

“Probably just because Lex is my brother. I’m sure he didn’t paint a pretty picture of our relationship.”

Which was no doubt true but from what Lena had said, Red Daughter seemed to think she was saving her? “Did she say anything?”

“No.” Lena watched her own fingers twitch tellingly and knew that Kara had seen the motion, there was no way that the woman could have missed it, but she remained blessedly silent and didn’t call her on it and force her to unpack Red Daughter’s rather possessive tone from the box she had hastily crammed it into right along with the nickname she had given her.

Kara wanted to push. She almost felt like she should. But Lena’s hackles were raised and her claws were out and ready to strike if she dared to try and Kara was unwilling to push against any progress they might have made.

“Okay,” she nodded as Lena’s green eyes lifted cautiously. “But… You know you can come to me… if anything comes back to you. I-I miss you, Lena.” Kara wasn’t even aware of moving but suddenly she was close enough to touch Lena and, Rao, but she ached to feel her friend in her arms again so much that her heart ached with it. “Do you think—”

“Not yet,” Lena whispered, backing up a step to put a little space between them at the unadulterated need in Kara’s voice. The fall of Kara’s expression was like a sucker punch to the gut. “Soon… Maybe… but not just yet.”

“Soon?” Kara grasped the tentatively offered olive branch with both hands, bouncing up on her toes in excitement. “I can do soon… As long as it takes…” she assured Lena at the disbelieving quirk of her brow. “Is there any chance of a hug?”

“You are hopeless.”

“That wasn’t a no,” Kara pointed out hopefully.

“Out!”

Lena found herself shaking her head fondly as Kara finally gave in and left the room, her hopeful smile lingering like a Cheshire cat grin. Everyone knew that Kryptonian’s powers were fuelled by the yellow sun but of all the ones she had met, which was understandably a limited pool to source her data from, Kara was a literal sunbeam; bright and optimistic; her smile lighting up the darkest of corners; her hope melting the coldest of hearts.

“Hopeless,” she muttered again… no longer sure if she was talking about Kara or herself. She had guarded her heart for so long out of necessity and when she had fallen, like a walking cliché, she had fallen for her straight best friend.

**********

From where she stood within the darkest shadows of the darkest alley, Red Daughter tilted back her head and watched as Supergirl streaked through the sky away from Lena Luthor’s penthouse. Minutes later she watched as armed figures in black left the tall building, pretending and failing to act like they weren’t all armed to the teeth.

Bizarrely, one of them was covered in some kind of blue paint that glowed brightly.

“What kind of person booby-traps a drawer like that!?”

“Lena Luthor,” Alex chuckled as she slapped the junior agent on the back. “And in all fairness, she did warn you not to poke around and you did. Really, he was lucky that a spray of paint was all he’d got with what Lena was capable of.

Red Daughter carefully shifted position. Even though she could hear perfectly fine from where she was, she felt drawn closer simply by hearing Lena’s name mentioned, as well as the prospect of a closer look at the woman whose name had been the first to come back to her.

“Alex.”

The name and the face of Kara Danvers’ Alex clicked within her in a way that her Alex’s just didn’t. She wanted to step forward and demand answers. But she stayed put and watched as the blacked out vehicles of the agents pulled away and looked upwards once more, following the sound that had drawn her there that night…

Lena’s heart.

“My Lena… My fierce little **_kitten_** _.”_


	2. Chapter 2

Lena shifted around on the ridiculous, red-leather wing-backed chair and uncrossed and re-crossed her legs as she watched the red-faced stuffed suits she had just concluded business with walking away to go lick their wounds elsewhere in the exclusive and very private club.

It was a ridiculous place straight out of a bygone era where men were men and the only ones capable of doing business. Just allowing the thought to cross her mind had Lena’s eyes rolling violently and her blunt nails digging into the arm of the chair, threatening to break through to the testosterone and cigar smoke ingrained into it.

It pained Lena that she had to even be a member of the place but there were far too many businessmen that insisted on using it to make use of the privacy in place there. And she had quickly learned that they used anyone’s inability to get into it as a bludgeon over them.

Normally, she wouldn’t care what they thought but sometimes it was just a little bit more satisfying than she would like to admit, to see their faces fall and redden when they heard her greeted warmly at the door, and when they found out that the membership was no longer restricted to the male side of the business world.

There were still things that she hadn’t been able to change there though, not yet anyway. Mainly the attitude of the members as they looked at her and muttered in hushed whispers. It was a tossup as to whether they were talking about a Luthor being in their midst’s or that she was a woman.

Either way, Lena cared only enough to let it stiffen her spine and bring a smile, some might say a slightly wicked one, to her lips as she placed her empty whiskey tumbler on the table at the side of her chair and ran a hand down the front of her perfectly tailored suit jacket to draw emphasis to what she knew they would see as an expensive symbol of power as well as her unwillingness to bend to what they thought of as ‘proper’ attire for a lady.

Lena lifted a hand, knowing the smallest motion would be detected and understood by the staff as an indication for them to summon her driver. Before her hand could barely do more than lift from the arm of the chair, one of the bar staff, Jeremy, she realised as she lifted her gaze to check, was placing a fresh coaster onto the table and placing a glass of vodka on it from the small, silver tray he was carrying expertly.

“Courtesy of the young lady seated at the end of the bar, Ms Luthor,” Jeremy explained quietly as he gathered up the empty tumbler and coaster. “Completely against the rules of the establishment, I know, but she was most insistent.” And too charming to resist.

Lena turned in her chair, her eyes moving to the end of the bar ready to acknowledge the offer and wave it off… she didn’t accept drinks from strangers, that route led to bad decisions and one night stands or possible kidnappings. The words ready to fall from her lips froze and her heart raced into sudden high gear at the sight of Red Daughter gazing at her intently, her blue eyes twinkling from beneath the bangs of a brunette wig in the lights shining behind the long bar.

Another week had passed since she had appeared in her balcony and once again, Lena wondered if screaming for Supergirl would get her there in time to do anything as Red Daughter slid elegantly from the high bar stool. She walked towards her, her stride long, predatory, and elegant, the self-assurance she exuded causing a ripple amongst the clientele.

Lena’s eyes remained glued to Red Daughter but she couldn’t help but notice the stares she was getting and how many of them seemed to grow nervous, almost fearful as they instinctively recognised the presence of a bigger predator than they could ever hope to be.

It was disconcerting… seeing the face of her friend stripped down of all the sunny charm and aww-shucks bumbling Kara exuded to something more primitive and… god, something so very sexy that called to an even more primitive part of herself, Lena realised as she shifted slightly, pressing her thighs together.

“Ms Luthor, Ms…”

“Lee,” smiling softly, she held out a hand in greeting, “Linda Lee.”

Thanks to all the etiquette lessons drilled into her at Lillian’s insistence, Lena instinctively placed her hand into the steel trap of Red Daughter’s… Linda’s… like a willing victim before she even realised what she was doing.

The hand that closed around hers was every bit as warm, gentle and measured as Kara’s but her palm and fingers were slightly calloused in different places. The scientist in Lena almost found her turning Linda’s hand within hers so she could investigate all the differences and explore further to see what else she could find but she contained herself in time, barely.

“Linda?”

“Yes.” Nodding at Jeremy, Linda lowered herself slowly into the chair without taking her eyes off Lena’s. She could hear the pounding out her heart as it gradually slowed back towards its usual speed.

“Did Lex pick that name for you?” Something inside of Lena bristled at the thought of Lex’s manipulation reaching even that part of Kara’s clone’s life.

“No, I chose it for myself. It was from… names in books that I liked.” She tilted her head, studying Lena intently as she suddenly seemed to relax a little at her words. Her claws retracting. **_“My kitten,”_** she smiled softly at the thought.

 ** _“Stop calling me that.”_** Lena had meant it as a rebuke but Linda’s delighted expression and the way she almost vibrated out of the chair in childish glee had her biting back a smile.

“I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. It is what you remind me off, Lena Luthor.”

“Most people just see me as a cold-hearted bitch—”

“Who are these ‘people’ you speak of?!” Linda bristled in righteous indignation. 

“I was just—”

“You are good and wise, Lena Luthor. You are better than the people that would say such things without knowing you.”

Lena looked away for the utter certainty in Linda’s fiercely passionate gaze, her hands dropping to both of hers clasped within the other woman’s strong but gentle grasp and the way her thumbs were sweeping over her flesh.

“I wish I was as good as you think,” she whispered lowly.

“And I wish you could see yourself how I do, _**kitten**_ ,” Linda whispered back, closing the distance between them until she could almost taste Lena’s pulse running through her red painted lips as they nearly brushed her own.

“I can’t believe they let people like _that_ in here now! At least they could have the decency to keep their depravity behind closed doors!”

“I don’t know, rather nice to have two fine women putting on a performance for us!”

Lena quickly tightened her hands on Linda’s as they curled into fist clenched so tightly she could feel the energy vibrating through them.

“Ignore them,” she pleaded. “They’re just ignorant old men not worth your time or energy.”

“It would take no time to crush them!”

“But the way I can crush them would be more satisfying.” Probably not short term as it was almost tempting to let Red Daughter just crush them with her fists but… taking their businesses and the money she knew they’d only inherited off the hard work of their ancestors, would be satisfying in the long term and wouldn’t have anyone getting killed.

“Let’s get out of here,” rising to her feet, Lena drew Linda with her… well, Linda let herself be drawn, with her strength if she didn’t want to move there was no way Lena would have been able to do anything about it outside of setting a bomb underneath her.

It wasn’t until they were outside of the stuffy club, her town car pulling up to a smooth halt at the curb before them, that Lena wondered what the _hell_ she had been thinking? She realised she now had a Kryptonian on her hands, hands that were still entwined with hers, who minutes before had been close to kissing her… and she hadn’t been averse to the thought of being kissed by her.

Yes, she had probably saved Linda from getting blood and stuffy homophobic old man dust all over her nice, very form-fitting black dress. But she still had a rogue Kryptonian that was working for Lex looking at her with more interest than Lena was used to from a Kryptonian.

“Do you want to come back to my place?” _Oh god! What had she just said?!_ “To-to talk!” she rushed to clarify as heat rose in her cheeks.

“I think I would like that.” The gentle tug of the hand still holding hers drew Linda willingly along in Lena’s wake. Eyes narrowing, she stared at the driver as he alighted from the car and opened the door for them but there was no judgement in his steady gaze as he saw them inside and closed the door, enclosing them within the quiet, intimate interior.

The car felt so decadent compared to anything Linda had ever known from her time in the cold concrete room she had known in Kaznia. The seat was covered in butter-soft, leather and so well padded that she wondered for a moment if she was going to sink straight through it and find herself in another world or just on the road.

“This is—”

“Too much. I know,” Lena stated quietly, judging the troubled look on Linda’s beautiful face. “I prefer a less conspicuous mode of transport usually.”

“Then… why?” Linda asked, genuinely intrigued as to why she would use such an unsavoury show of wealth if it was not usual.

“Sometimes just to piss Lex off… it was his,” from the corner of her eye, Lena saw the frown creasing Linda’s face as she looked around, no doubt… hopefully… reassessing what she knew of her Alex.

“You said sometimes?”

“Yes, tonight Frank, my driver, has it because we’re leaving early to spend a day at a hospice for young children. It’s not much… but they seem to like to take a ride in it so Frank chauffeurs them and their families around while I talk business with the staff. And if it gives them just a minute to take themselves away from their pain it is time well spent.”

“It is always a pleasure, Ms Luthor,” he smiled softly at his boss through the rear-view mirror. “Where to?”

“Back home. And then you get home and get some rest… You’ll need it for tomorrow.” Belatedly she saw his eyes shift to Linda. There was no judgement in his eyes, in fact there was more approval than anything as he obviously thought that he wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the night because Linda would be staying over. By the time she realised, it was too late to correct his assumptions without sounding like she was making an excuse… and the truth about how Linda could get herself home without the aid of transportation would just raise too many questions or trigger Linda into violent action to silence him.

As the car glided smoothly towards her home under Frank’s expert control, Lena cast furtive glances towards Linda while pretending not to. She was stunning, which, of course, she was, she was a clone of Kara. But there was an edge to her that Kara didn’t have. Her life experiences, even though she had existed only for a matter of months, had etched themselves indelibly into her; hardening the lines of her already sharp jaw as well as her poise.

And yet… there was that softness that came out in her too. The same look of reverence and wonder that she had seen their first two meetings. It was not so apparent that night and instead was tucked away beneath the cover of her wig just as Kara hid beneath her suit and cape. But it came out in the odd glance and the brush of her thumb where their hands were still entwined.

 **“You are staring, kitten. It is okay,”** she smiled as a wave of red that was visible even in the dim interior of the car crept across Lena’s pale cheeks in a becoming blush that deepened as Linda leaned closer to whisper in her ear, **“I do not mind.”**

Lena was saved from trying to think of anything to say in her defence by Frank guiding the car off the street and down into the underground parking and pulling to a halt as close to the private elevator that swept up through the lobby of the building and granted access to the penthouse.

Lena had never given the ride up in the elevator much thought, it was just a means to get from one place to another that was usually conducted with her mind on business, or barely functioning after being in her office for more hours than was healthy. But was Linda sharing the space it suddenly felt too small and enclosed, and far too slow and intimate with Linda’s blue eyes trained upon her face.

“Now you are the one staring.” Lena tried for a teasing tone rather than a challenging one but it felt trapped beneath the warmth of Linda’s coy smile and the soft bite of even white teeth into her lips as she wordlessly acknowledged what she had said. It was such a Kara move that it had Lena looking away in confusion.

She _knew_ that Linda was a clone of Kara created by the black kryptonite but she couldn’t afford to mistake them for the same person no matter what the similarities in their actions. They were shaped by different things… Kara by growing up with the Danvers and their loving guidance, Linda, much like herself, with the weight of Lex’s paranoia and madness pressing upon her.

The realisation of _their_ similarities had Lena’s eyes darting hopefully up and falling into the intense blue of Linda’s eyes. She had spent her life trying to step out from under the cold mantle of Lilian’s expectations and loathing for her, and then the fear and expectations of the world at large that she was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off and expose her Luthor madness as Lex had, and she wanted the same for Linda to prove that there was hope for herself.

As smooth as the elevator was, Lena’s stomach still did that odd little swooping bounce as it came to a halt. As she looked at Linda’s stepping into her home once more though, her presence filling the vast room, she wondered if the feeling wasn’t more to do with her. Dragging her eyes away from Linda, Lena looked around what was visible of the penthouse and wondered what Linda saw? Since Lex’s escape from prison they had managed to piece together that he had spent a lot of time when he should have been behind bars sneaking off to Kaznia; a small country that was plagued by civil war and rooted firmly in communism.

“You have a… lovely home.”

Lena heard the barely perceptible hesitation and saw the twist of distaste on Linda’s lips. It was the same look of barely suppressed disapproval that had crossed as when she had been in the car. “It is much nicer now it’s got windows again. Don’t worry, I don’t blame you,” she added as Linda actually blushed and shuffled her feet.

“If I had not been here then Supergirl would not have burst in as she had.”

“True enough. Why were you here that night?”

“I—” Linda straightened her spine and drew her shoulders back at the question; the same question she’d had thrown at her in one form or another by Alex, the general, and herself for days. “I needed to protect you, Lena Luthor.”

“I can take care of myself,” Lena stated firmly, crossing her arms for emphasis as though that would carry much weight against a woman that was one of the strongest beings on the planet. Her jaw tightened, ticking slightly as Linda’s fond expression caused her to grind her teeth a little. “If you call me **_kitten_** again right now I will throw something at your head.”

“I would not dream of it… **_kitten_**.” Linda grinned slightly as Lena huffed and rolled her eyes at her but refrained on reaching for the vase that was close at hand. “Do you mind if I?” she gestured towards the wig.

“Can I?”

Linda frowned, unsure as to what Lena wanted; until she stepped closer, an intent look in her brilliant green eyes as she stopped inches away and reached up towards her wig. She paused there, her eyes seeking permission and advancing only once Linda nodded.

It was only a wig and yet Linda felt as though Lena was stripping her of far more as her elegant fingers gently worked it loose and removed it; the gentle motion showing Linda more care than anyone had before as they worked through her real hair and shook it loose until it flowed down around her shoulders in curling waves.

Lena grew startlingly aware of their closeness and the heat of Linda’s body as her fingers finished teasing through Linda’s hair and came to rest upon the slopes of her shoulders. She could feel the strength of her muscles working beneath silky soft skin; the motion ending with the gentle pressure of hands settling dangerously low upon her waist.

“There, that’s better.” Her voice sounded breathy even to her own ears but Lena tried to hide the fact behind a smile as she patted her hands against those strong shoulders and stepped back. Linda’s hands tightened perceptibly around her waist and her eyes were dark and smoky, going from the brightness of a summer’s day to the velvet darkness of a tropical dusk as they dropped languidly to her lips.

Applying a bit more pressure to Linda’s shoulders, Lena stepped back and instantly felt the loss of her hands and heat of her body as an ache in her heart.

“Would-would you like a drink?” she somehow managed to get out with a bit of hasty throat clearing.

“Maybe just a water?”

“You can have more if you want, Linda,” Lena found herself assuring her at the uncertainty in her voice. She almost sounded as though she thought it was a test or that she would lose something by asking.

“Just water,” she stated with greater conviction at Lena’s permission and encouragement to choose what she wanted.

“Okay, take a seat,” she gestured vaguely to the couch and chairs in the living room to still Linda from following her as she backed away in the direction of the kitchen. “I’ll go get it for you.” She could feel Linda’s eyes upon her every move but she managed to block it out thanks to her upbringing as well as spending her time hiding her huge crushes from Kara and Supergirl… who were one and the same person and whose clone was apparently, for some reason, interested or just fascinated in her in a way Kara had never been.

Lord, but her life had gotten complicated since she had moved to National City! Lena chuckled wryly as she filled a tall glass with ice cubes and chilled water for Linda.

“Would you like a slice of- Akkk! Jesus!”

Lena felt sure her eyes were about to pop out of their sockets with how furiously her heart was beating, but that didn’t stop her from landing a hard slap to Linda’s shoulder for sneaking up on her. Not that it helped her much as she was left shaking out her hand.

“I thought you were sitting down!”

“No. I am here.”

“Obviously,” Lena drawled impudently. “I was going to ask if you wanted a slice of lemon or lime but I’m more likely to add a slice of a finger if I try cutting anything.” Holding up her hands so Linda could see their shaking, she glowered at her.

“I would be happy to do the cutting for you but… I do not know if I would like either.”

The interest and shyness in Linda’s eyes was a puzzle that calmed Lena. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes!”

The sheer unbridled trust in her voice had Lena’s heart aching. That she still sounded so after Lex had been around her was encouraging but it hurt to think that one day he would find a way to stamp out that part of her or kill her trying.

“I would give you a lecture about that but right now I really do want you to trust me,” Lena smiled. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at Linda intently for a moment before quickly getting to work or rather she put Linda to work but she didn’t seem to mind as she leapt into action with all the enthusiasm as Kara did when faced with food as she carefully sliced up a lime with only a mild grimace and a grumble of rough sounding Russian as the scent of it caught her nose.

“Oh hush,” Lena chuckled, “trust me, you’ll like it. But,” placing a hand on Linda’s forearm she stilled her for a moment. “If you don’t there is nothing wrong in that. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Biting her lip, Lena handed the glass over to Linda. It was nothing more than iced water with a spritz of lime juice and a slice floating in it but the journey that Linda’s face went on was worth it even if it saddened her with how telling it was of a life spent denied new flavours.

“Would you like something to eat? Again, no pressure.” She was pretty sure there was still a couple of cupboards still bursting at the seams with Kara’s favourite snack foods and even though she was barely there to eat or cook there was bound to be something a little healthier she could throw together.

“Do-do you have any cookies?” Linda asked hopefully, her mouth watering and stomach growling almost embarrassingly at the thought.

“Top cupboard on the left,” Lena chuckled. A rush of breeze stirred her hair as Linda used a burst of super speed to get to the cupboard. “Take as many as you want.” She waved a hand, refusing the offer of a cookie as Linda held the pack out; her eyes shining brightly above cheeks bulging with the cookies she had crammed into her mouth in her eagerness.

It was utterly endearing and a move she had seen from Kara many times. At least now she knew that it was because she had an insane metabolism that required her to consume huge amounts of calories and not because of some medical condition or an eating disorder.

Lena tempted Linda back into the main living area with the lure of more snacks and a tall glass of milk after she had explained how cookies were better with it. At least that was what Ruby had told her. She even managed to get her to sit but only after joining her on the couch after trying to sit in a chair on her own had resulted in what Lena could only think to describe as an unfair, mega-pout.

“I know this penthouse probably seems ridiculously extravagant to you. I could see it in your eyes,” she explained as Linda stilled mid-bite. “In a way, it is,” Lena nodded in acknowledgement. “I spend more time in my office than I do here. Even sleeping there on my couch or in my lab. Eve told me I should just take pity on my back and get a proper bed.”

Lena gritted her teeth, anger rising in a wave of bile at the thought of the woman she had trusted and been betrayed by.

“Anyway. I’m not going to justify the things I choose to buy and surround myself with to you or anyone. I work hard and honestly; and before I die, which knowing my mother or Lex could be any day…” maybe even at the hands of the woman beside her eating her cookies, “I hope I can do some good in this world. That I can make a difference somehow.”

“You are good, Lena. So good,” Linda stated emphatically.

“I’m sure Lex didn’t tell you that.”

“No,” she admitted. Scooting across the couch, she closed the distance between them and gently took one of Lena’s delicate hands between her own. “Lex wants… had ordered me, to stay away from you.”

“Why don’t you?”

“I—” scowling, Linda made to remove her hand from Lena’s but found hers now held a gentle prisoner within the fragile cage of Lena’s hands. “When I was found I knew two names, Alex and Lena. That was all I had. And then I found out that they belong to Kara Danvers. I had to know more and when Alex brought me to America I read about you in Kara’s journal and more than anything, I was sure that I had to meet you. I had to understand how Kara Danvers had an Alex of her own and how she could be friends with my Alex’s sister and yet she defend people so _corrupted_.” She choked on the word, the memory of poor Mikhail clawing at her soul.

“And have you worked it out yet, why Kara does what she does or has Lex tried to beat it out of you?”

“I was _encouraged_ to find focus in training.”

“Oh my god. He did? He had them beat you?!”

“Calm yourself, **_my kitten_**. I said training and that was what I meant.”

“And what did they help you focus on?”

“My mission remains as it always has, **_kitten_**. Now though, I must leave. You have visitors on the way.”

Lena frowned in confusion, her ears straining foolishly to catch what Linda’s more highly tuned ears had. And in the time it took for her heart to beat, Linda had left the couch and was striding towards the balcony.

“Wait!” propelling herself from the couch, Lena snagged Linda’s arm in an attempt to slow her down. “How do I contact you?”

“Contact would be foolish, _**my kitten**_ —”

“Seriously, you need to stop calling me that—” Lena huffed.

“I think not. It suits you too much,” she smiled at Lena’s softly disgruntled expression. “Do not worry, **_kitten_**. I will keep an eye on you and protect you from danger.”

‘But who will protect you?’ Lena mused to herself as Linda took off high into the sky and quickly vanished from sight moments before her penthouse door crashed to the floor and armed DEO agents stormed inside with Alex Danvers leading the way.

“Where is she?!” With her blaster clasped ready in her hands, Alex quickly made her way to Lena’s side once she was certain that Red Daughter wasn’t inside the penthouse. Or at least reasonably sure… The en-suite bathroom to the master bedroom was easily big enough to hide her whole apartment in.

“She just left,” shooing agents out of the way with a fierce glare, Lena made her way over to a mirror hanging on the wall and pressed a carefully concealed button beside it. With a faint hiss, the mirror slid down to reveal a small but well-stocked bar. And if a couple of the nearby agents jumped; one she swore she had last seen wearing a fine layer of blue paint after their last visit… Well, that was just a bonus. “That door was very expensive, Alex.”

“This one will be on the DEO.”

“Yes, it will.”

“We had information that you had a visitor—”

“Did that information come from outside sources or from one of the bugs that were planted here?”

“No, you found all the ones here.” And good on her too. Haley should have known better than to think she could get one over Lena and it had been a delight to see the smoke coming out of her ears as each bug she’d had planted without Alex’s knowledge be destroyed slowly and methodically every hour until they were all gone. “Colonel Haley recommended that you should be kept under observation for your own protection.”

“Yeah, seems to be the opinion of a couple of people lately,” Lena grumbled into the drink of whiskey she had raised to her lips. Tipping back her head she swallowed a sip and eyed the sky for the sight of any blondes that might happen to be flying by in a sexy black dress.

“You just had your second visit from Red Daughter, Lena.”

“And once again, it wasn’t her that left a trail of destruction!” she bit out harsher than she had meant to. “I’m sorry, Alex,” she softened her tone. “It- she- It’s just a very trying time.”

“I know. Unfortunately, it’s about to get a little more trying.”

“How so?” Lena stiffened slightly, her eyebrow rising challengingly in Alex’s direction.

“Colonel Haley has ordered us to bring you in.”

“No!”

“Lena. Think of it as being for your own protection—”

“I can think of many ways to think of it but, tell me, how did Haley put it?”

“She wants you in for questioning,” Alex relented. “She believes… and I can’t say that I don’t agree with her, that because of the serum you created you could be in danger with Lex out there if he decided to come back for more.”

“Translation: She wants the serum for her own projects.”

“You knew they would eventually, Lena.”

“Well, I can’t and won’t help her. It has already created more of a problem just as Supergirl said.”

“Lena, she’s already got another team searching L-Corp—”

“That should be a nice waste of time for them. I handed everything; the Harun-El; the last of the serum and all of the research over to Supergirl for her to destroy.” She pitched her voice clearly towards the still open balcony door just in case Linda’s ears were trained her way. With any luck, she could avoid any kidnap attempts designed to get her to make some more if Lex heard that wasn’t an option any more.

‘Good one, Lena!’ Alex silently praised the other woman. “You will still need to come with us and explain all that to Colonel Haley.”

“Fine! Might I make a suggestion that you forgo any cuffs or anything? I really don’t need any more photos like that ending up all over the internet.

Alex frowned in confusion as Lena started pulling funny faces and seemed to be gesturing upwards with a jabbing finger. She was ready to leap into action in case she was having a stroke or a seizure until Lena’s figure traced out a familiar shape on her chest and tugged on the lobe of her ear.

“It’s just for a friendly chat,” Alex spoke maybe just a little too clearly towards the balcony if Lena mouthing a ‘what the hell?’ was any indication but Alex ploughed on just to see her squirm. “Don’t worry… I will make sure that it stays friendly and that you, Lena Luthor, make it home. You suck at charades,” she whispered as softly as she could.

“And you didn’t know that from the last games night? But, at least I’m better at subtlety.”

“Lena… You’re not allowed to make a claim like that while wearing _that_ suit with those heels.”

“I was in a business meeting!”

“How do you even stand up in those anyway?”

“Very carefully. Now, I expect a replacement door in place before I get home. And no more bugs or I will arrange for you to have a whole rainbow of agents before the week is out! And I know how to make a dye that gives ‘permanent’ a whole new level of meaning.”

“Duly noted. You heard the lady, paws to yourselves this time and no bugs of any kind! And if I find out you disobeyed me, you will be out on your rainbow asses. Clear?”

“Clear!”


	3. Chapter 3

The sight of a black-clad figure taking off from the balcony of Lena’s penthouse had Kara coming to a sudden halt mid-flight of her last patrol of the city before retiring for the night. She knew she should probably give pursuit and make some kind of an attempt to capture her clone but she found herself held in place by the sight of the other woman and the obvious joy on her face as she twirled upwards into the night sky with her arms wrapped around her body as though trying to hold the joy close for as long as she could.

It was a look and emotion, that Kara knew all too well as time spent with Lena often had her feeling as though she was about to burst with joy. It was just… strange… to see her feelings written so clearly on another face and the shock of it had her hovering in place, her eyes following Red Daughter until she was out of sight and beyond all chance of pursuit.

Turning her attention back to the building, Kara let her hearing tune back into the familiar beat of Lena’s heart to check she was okay. A boom rang out, sending her hands flying to cover her ringing ears as she was rocked back in the sky. Fists and jaw clenching, she was about to rocket to Lena’s aid and defend her from whoever had decided to invade her home. Her name stumbled and tripped over her pulse on its way to her lips. And then she heard Alex’s voice and not cries of pain or fear she had been dreading.

High above her position, Kara was aware that Red Daughter was back, her body language mirroring her own as she stared down into Lena’s penthouse from above with an intensity that screamed she was ready to attack at any moment.

Only… she didn’t.

And Kara realised why when she heard the surprisingly calm tone of Lena’s voice even when she was employing her own brand of Irish-laced, razor-sharp sarcasm on Alex. The reason for which became apparent when Kara made use of her x-ray vision. She winced in sympathy at the mess the DEO had made of the door… but at least this time _she_ wasn’t the one responsible and on the receiving end of Lena’s ire.

“Rao!” The sight of Lena and the suit she was wearing had Kara forgetting how to fly and sent her spinning away for a few seconds. Head twisting, she frantically tried to keep her friend in sight the whole time. Even looking through the distortion of her x-ray vision, it was a hell of a sight she was pretty gosh darn sure she would never get over seeing even if Lena never wore anything other than suits for the rest of her life.

Lena always managed to look stunning in everything she wore. Really, it was unfair how good she could make Kara’s old sweatshirts look. But Kara decided right there and then that there was something _extra_ special about Lena in a three-piece suit that was perfectly tailored for her curves that put the equivalent worn by a man to shame.

Kara blushed as a glance up revealed Red Daughter to be looking at her as well as Lena’s penthouse but, before she could even think about giving pursuit, the conversation from within caught her clone’s attention as well as her own and she was split between indignation that Alex was taking Lena into the DEO and fear for her sister because she was taking Lena into the DEO! And Red Daughter looked just as displeased about the whole situation too.

_“Don’t worry… I will make sure that it stays friendly and that you, Lena Luthor, make it home.”_

Kara rolled her eyes at her sister’s startling lack of subtlety but, apparently, it had worked as Red Daughter was once again out of sight. Though, out of sight didn’t mean she was gone as Kara could still hear the disconcerting echo of her own heart in her ears that told her that Red Daughter was somewhere close by.

Keeping an eye on Lena.

Plotting, Rao only knew what.

Or just waiting for the right moment to act out on a plan of Lex’s devising?

“Leave them alone!” Kara growled softly into the night.

“Lena Luthor is in no danger from me, Kara Danvers. _I_ will protect her while you run around saving all the corrupt pigs in this unsavoury country while the poor suffer in the streets forgotten and alone!”

Kara’s body spun around in a tight circle that had her cape wrapping around her body as her eyes zeroing in on where Red Daughter was hovering in the distance. Even if she flew at her fastest she knew she stood little to no chance at getting close.

“I follow the law,” she whispered back defensively at her clone’s accusation. “Sometimes that means helping people whose beliefs I do not share but if that stops someone doing a worse crime in retaliation that they can’t come back from I do it and then work within the law to try and effect change.”

“By putting pen to paper—” Linda sneered contemptuously.

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”

“Mightier than your shiny cape?”

“As it helped warn people about what Lex was doing then… yes.” Kara hovered slowly closer towards her clone, lowering her voice so the other woman would be forced to be still to hear her. “We don’t have to fight.”

“Leave and we won’t have to.”

“I don’t just mean tonight. You say you won’t hurt Lena—”

“I will not!”

“Then I will trust you on your word. But I meant that we don’t have to fight at all. We’re alike—”

“I am nothing like you! I would not have abandoned my sister without a memory as you did!”

 _Alex?_ Kara’s glanced down, her eyes easily finding the vehicle Alex and Lena were in as it travelled along the streets below. “I didn’t want to but it had to be done to protect her,” she sighed brokenly as the pain from Alex’s mindwipe surged through her even sharper than the day it had been done… back before she had only been able to imagine what it would be like not to have her sister by her side. “I wish I could just go back and do everything differently.”

“There is no going back, Supergirl. You are on one side in this fight and I am on the other,” Linda bit back sharply at the regret in Kara Danvers’ voice. How dare she sound like that and justify abandoning her naked, alone with no memory of who she was! If not for Alex she would have nothing!

Maybe it was time she listened to her Alex and crushed the American pretender under her heel!

Then she could protect Lena.

Lena…

Why was Lena friends with Kara Danvers? Could she not see what she was like? But… it was Kara’s words that had fuelled her fire to see Lena for herself so she could see the woman Kara had described with such love and passion and not the one Alex and Eve had warned her to stay away from.

“But there doesn’t have to be one!” It was too late… even before the first word was out of Kara’s mouth, Red Daughter had streaked away past the range of all her abilities and Kara was left once more with a feeling of sadness and unease as she thought about her clone and everything she must have gone through in the time since she had come into being. If not for Kal El finding her pod when it had landed; if not for Eliza, Jeremiah and Alex… just a quirk of fate, a moments delay in the Phantom Zone, or an early escape from the prison of it, that could have been her.

While Kara couldn’t put right what had happened to Red Daughter, she wanted to help her. Or at least find a common ground between them and get her away from Lex before he used her up and killed her. But getting close was next to impossible.

Except for Lena.

Red Daughter gravitated towards Lena almost by instinct. Trapped in the orbit of Lena’s brilliant mind and gentle soul just as surely as Kara herself was. And that was dangerous for all of them but especially for Lena! As brilliant and feisty as she was… As clever and maybe even a little bit lethal with her technology as she was… Lena was very much a human in the sights of a being that could level a building with a glance. And while seeing Lena dangling from Reign’s hand had been heart-stoppingly terrifying, Kara knew she wouldn’t survive it if it was her own face attached to the hand squeezing the life from Lena.

With one last look around to make sure the skies were still clear, Kara followed Alex and Lena’s heartbeats. As she only wanted to make sure that they remained safe, she kept her distance so as not to alert any of the agents travelling with them and keeping watch. It hurt that she had to go to such lengths when it came to the people she had worked with, but even though things were getting better between Supergirl and Director Danvers, they were nowhere near the level of comfort they had shared before Alex’s mind was wiped and she had forgotten their sisterly bond. The level of tension and mistrust had Kara pretty sure, especially after speaking to Brainy, that Colonel Haley would tell the agents under her control to shoot first and ask questions later.

And that wasn’t because Red Daughter had impersonated Supergirl. Kara had _tried_ suggesting a pre-arranged signal for if she needed to enter the DEO other than buying a box of doughnuts every time but that suggestion had been shot down… Verbally. Kara was hoping to avoid the literal and keep the doughnuts for herself.

The DEO made their way through the streets of National City without incident and vanished into the underground parking that lay beneath the tall building. With one ear locked on them and an eye on her surroundings, Kara took up position on top of a building across from it but out of sight of the massive balcony entrance she had used so often.

Dangling her feet off the edge of the building, she gazed down at the few ant-sized dots of humanity far below. If she lowered her control enough, she could pick up the chatter of their voices and the whisper of leaves upon the trees as they were stirred by the breeze blown up from the passing vehicles. Kara kept it all locked down though and focused her attention on the DEO building. She didn’t go as far as to listen in on any conversations, not even the one between Lena and Colonel Haley. But she did listen in to the cadence of Lena’s heartbeat to make sure she was okay and that the ‘questioning’ didn’t go too far.

Lena kept her cool though, her heartbeat only rose a couple of times and Kara could picture all too clearly the cool calm and collected mask of CEO firmly in place as she hit Haley with cold hard facts… and probably a few threats that her team of highly paid lawyers would be more than happy to back up, as she quickly regained control of both the situation and her heart rate even though the hours started to tick by far beyond the reach of mere questioning.

Kara was gritting her teeth, her fingers drumming as restlessly upon her thighs as her heels were against the edge of the building as she contemplated the best way to get inside to break Lena out if it went on much longer, when she finally heard Lena and Alex’s heartbeats almost merging into one with their closeness as they made their way back down the building again and retraced their path back across the city.

It was late. Really, really late, or super early depending on how she looked at it before Lena was once more safely in her apartment. Or as safe as she could be given that everyone, herself included, just seemed to bypass security whenever they wanted. And that was the thought that stopped Kara from just landing on Lena’s balcony right there and then. She needed to check how Lena was though.

Fishing her phone out, Kara tapped out a quick message as she hovered out of sight.

The buzz of her phone stilled Lena’s hand before she could pick up the decanter of whiskey to help ease the tension before bed. “Hmm?” Her heart fluttered in her chest as she glanced over and saw the message notification from Kara on the screen. The timing of it was too much to be a coincidence and Lena was pretty sure if she had x-ray vision of her own she would find Kara somewhere close at hand. But, it was late and she was too tired to deny the fact that contact with Kara gave her joy even when she was still just the tiniest bit still mad about the whole secret identity thing.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah. Just been a long day.’

A slew of emoji’s filled the screen in a bewildering array of colours and meanings that Lena was just not equipped to deal with right then.

‘Kara! You know that is a language I haven’t mastered!’

‘How old are you again?’

‘How about you fly down off of whatever perch you are on and come talk to me like a normal, super-powered, flying alien?’

The twin thuds of boots tapping down quietly on the balcony made her smile despite herself. “You can come in, Supergirl. The door’s open.”

“I wasn’t sure if I would be welcome or if you wouldn’t put up some kind of a force field,” Kara admitted as she stepped inside. “Especially after last time when… well… you know?” She grimaced, her fingers nervously finding the edge of her cape.

“When you crashed through my window to save me when I didn’t need saving?”

“Yeah… that.”

“I was a grumpy and unreasonable bitch about that and I’m sorry. And don’t worry, as tempting as it would be to see you go splat against a force field, you’ve come to my rescue too often against assassination attempts, and hunger for me to do that.”

“Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?” Kara asked with barely repressed joy.

“Mhm, 90% forgiven. My Luthor genes are too strong to give you a complete pass just yet,” Lena smirked softly. “I miss our friendship, Kara. And I would be a fool to hold a grudge against you over secrets when I’ve kept things from you too.”

“Does this mean I can get a hug?” Kara held her arms open invitingly.

“Only a short one,” Lena teased as she stepped into the comforting warmth of Kara’s embrace. “Still 10% pissed.” Kara’s soft laugh vibrated through her body as her arms pulled her in closer. The feel of the super-suit while not uncomfortable was still strange to feel in the context of a Kara Danvers hug where she was more used to feeling cotton and soft cardigans all in a seemingly endless array of pastel colours.

It felt genuine though and that was what mattered and what made her linger within the comforting shelter of Kara’s arms longer than she intended.

“I saw Red Daughter leave just before Alex and her team crashed your door… glad that wasn’t me causing property damage.”

“This time.”

“This time,” Kara chuckled wryly at the familiar teasing tone of Lena’s voice as it vibrated against the El crest on her chest and radiated outwards. “I can see you’re okay but… are you okay?” she asked softly.

“I am,” Lena nodded, barely even lifting her head from the comfort of Kara’s chest to do so. “Worst parts of my day have been dealing with investors and Haley, not Red Daughter’s unexpected visit.” The name felt strange on her tongue and Lena wondered at how quickly ‘Linda’ had become the name she thought of her as. And the fact that she hadn’t told anyone, not even Alex her alias.

Kara held back her instinctive desire to fly off the handle about Lena’s apparent ease about Red Daughter coming and going as she wanted. Lena would listen to reason but she listened to tone first and if she went in with guns blazing and confronted her, she was more likely to retreat and build walls faster than anyone could breach them. Softly and reasonably were always the best approach with Lena Luthor. “What did Haley want?”

Lena eased back within the circle of Kara’s arms. “Can we sit down?”

“Of course.” Kara blinked in confusion.

“You’re too warm and cuddly,” Lena grumbled lightly. “I’ll just end up falling asleep standing up before I can tell you anything, and I would hate to drool and snore all over you.”

“That’s never stopped you on movie nights,” she teased; delighting in the blush that stole across Lena’s face. Rao, she missed those nights!

“You’ve never worn _that_ to a movie night.”

Kara followed the quick gesture of Lena’s hand and looked down at her suit. “I could go change if you want? You’ve still got some of my sweatshirts here, right?”

“They are mine now,” Lena smirked challengingly as she thought about the soft clothing she had claimed for herself. When Kara’s secret identity had come to light she had almost thrown them away in a fit of pique but she had ended up huddled on her bed under a pile of them, sobbing noisily instead. “You can change if you want to but… I need to be around this part of you too Kara. I need to so I can whittle down that 10%. Right now… just feels like the wrong time to be drooling on your suit.”

“I’m looking forward to when you feel comfortable enough. And there’s no need to worry about stains or cleaning. It’s stood up to all kinds of alien slime so I’m pretty sure it can handle human drool.”

“Ass!” Lena laughed as she sat down beside Kara on the couch. She quickly went over what had happened with Linda; giving Kara only the details that were important. Which wasn’t much in the end as they knew she was around and they both knew how effective even a simple disguise could be. The main thing was that she hadn’t attacked anyone or tried to drag her off to Kaznia or anywhere else.

What had happened with Haley… that was harder. The threats laid against her in an attempt to get her to hand over all her research on Harun-El or recreate the serum to create an army of super-soldiers would have been terrifying if Lena hadn’t grown up in the Luthor household where threats were a constant. But they were subtly done, Lena had to give Haley that, but if Kara heard them she would have flown off the handle and acted rashly. And flying headfirst into the DEO where they were stockpiling anti-Kryptonian weapons was something Lena didn’t want her doing over a threat she could handle herself.

“I should—”

“Do nothing,” Lena stated firmly before Kara could get too riled up. “If Haley even suspects that threatening me even within the limits of the law will have you coming down on them, she will use that to their advantage the same way as she tried to use Alex and Eliza before. I won’t have that Kara. Do you understand that? If I have to I will take myself away from National City forever. Maybe Alaska or Bora Bora would make a good location for L-Corp’s head office.”

“You wouldn’t—”

“Kara, Alex had her memories of you as Supergirl; as her alien sister, erased to keep you safe. How much extra do you think a Luthor could be, hmm?”

“You’re Luthor by blood not by your deeds.”

“And that part had me designing things to keep you safe from Kryptonite even when I was mad at you. Do not underestimate my powers of extra when it comes to the ones I love.”

_Love._

The word hung between them in the air and Kara didn’t want to brush it aside with an airy laugh and label it as what friends did. They would always be friends. But, even though Kara was often confused by the rules and ideas of human relationships, she wanted more. She felt like she always had from the first time she had seen Lena in her office and had come under the scrutiny of her crystal green eyes and had been seen for herself. And she could see by the widening of Lena’s eyes that she maybe felt the same?

Reaching across the gap between them, Kara slid their hands together and felt her heart swoop and soar as Lena’s fingers entwined with hers and gave a tentative squeeze. It took everything within Kara not to move closer and see what might happen but… it really wasn’t the right time.

But it could be the start.

“I-I’d best get going and let you get some sleep.”

Pulled by the softness of Kara’s smile, Lena rose to her feet as she did and moved willingly into her arms for another hug. Her taller frame curled around her, sheltering rather than overwhelming and Lena basked unashamedly in the contact.

“Hmm, I have got to be up early in the morning,” she mumbled; fatigue washing over her at the thought even as they made their way towards the balcony together.

“Oh? Oh! The children! Golly, with everything going on I nearly forgot!”

“Golly?” Lena couldn’t help but smirk at the quaintness of the word.

“Do you think they will mind if I turn up?”

“Mind? Kara, you know full well they love you swooping in. I won’t promise anything just in case you get caught up with anything else but if you can, well I look forward to seeing you come swooping in too.”

Kara wasn’t sure if it was the husky tone of Lena’s voice, the twinkle in her eye as she raised an eyebrow or just her words, but Kara nearly stumbled headfirst over the edge of the balcony. And with the way Lena’s laugh followed her as she floated upwards with thankfully more grace and poise than she was feeling, she’d seen her almost accident.

“Then, until tomorrow, Ms Luthor.”

Kara floated backwards, her body perfectly poised like a dancer frozen mid-dance. Away from the shelter of the building, the wind caught at her, billowing the heavy, dark-red material of her cape around her body and the shining golden strands of her hair around her head and shoulders in an artful way that made every shampoo commercial ever made pale in comparison.

Then, with one last smile, she was gone in a burst of speed that left the red and blue of her outfit as an afterimage in Lena’s mind.

“Until tomorrow, Supergirl.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

It felt to Lena as though she had barely even managed to put her head down upon her pillow, let alone get any sleep before her alarm went off with an annoying intensity on her iPhone to signal the start of her day.

When she had been in school and later at MIT and her dreams had revolved around a life spent in the lab surrounded by the quiet hum of machines and science, Lena had been more of a night owl than anything and shunned the very idea of mornings with a passion. To the point that Jack; her partner in crime in the lab and the first romantic partner that Lillian hadn’t managed to bribe, had declared he was going to run experiments to see if she was really a vampire. Luckily for her sanity, she managed to divert his brilliant mind from working out how he could sneak garlic into everything she ate and drank and steered him towards helping in her quest to find a cure for cancer.

It was a dream that had ultimately led to Jack’s death after an accident with the nanobots he had created, and a goal that still alluded her to that day. She was determined to work it out though. For Jack.

That had been a simpler time though. A time before her brother had gone insane and tried to destroy the world. A time before the role of CEO had been thrust upon her shoulders after he had gone to prison because of it and Lillian’s unshakable belief in Lex had proved to be too unsavoury for the board.

Thankfully, Lena had trained herself through necessity to be an early riser so she could be seen to be the first one in the office and also the last to leave. It kept her ahead of the competition but was hell on anything remotely like a social life. Not that anyone really wanted to touch a Luthor with a ten-foot pole let alone in a way that was more intimate.

She’d barely finished answering a couple of important emails that had accumulated in the few hours she had managed to sleep, and finished her second cup of coffee to help her feel something close to human, before she got a message from Frank letting her know he was ready to go when she was.

The text was professional and devoid of the explosion of emoji’s that Lena had grown used to expecting when Kara sent messages. But Lena could read the emotion behind it simply because it existed when Frank usually awaited to receive messages from her. When it came to the children though, Frank had never been able to contain himself. It was one of the reasons Lena kept him on as her driver.

Not wanting to keep him or the children waiting, Lena rinsed out her coffee cup and placed it neatly on the drainer to deal with later. Gathering up everything she needed, she checked her appearance one last time and left her apartment after shooting a text back to Frank to let him know she was on her way.

As fast as the private elevator was; and that was very fast as she had spent a productive couple of hours after moving in upgrading everything herself; it apparently wasn’t fast enough for Frank as the usual steady and reliable man was acting very jittery and out of character when she saw him.

“Good morning, Ms Luthor!”

“Is everything okay, Frank?” Rather than answering her, he made a low, sweeping gesture towards the car with his arm like a magician revealing the climax of an illusion.

With anyone else, Lena would have been not at all surprised to see the door fly open to reveal a team of assassins or Lex himself, and even knowing it was Frank, Lena couldn’t help the flurry of nervousness that sprung up and danced along her spine until a familiar figure stepped out of the dark interior and into the light.

“Jess?!” All the etiquette drummed into Lena by Lillian and the expensive finishing school she had been forced to attend in a vain attempt to rid her of her ‘uncouth Irish accent and ways’, flew out of the window at the sight of her friend and former assistant. Thrusting her jacket and bags into Frank’s arms, she pulled Jess into a tight hug. “I wasn’t expecting you for another couple of weeks!”

“I managed to find the perfect replacement to take over for me—”

“Which I have found the hard way is an impossibility.”

“Stop,” Jess blushed at Lena’s praise. “Anyway, I heard on the Frankvine where you were going today and came back early so I could come with you. And I was missing this crazy town; you know, there are just no decent superheroes in Rome? Nore was there any of those ridiculous pay rises you gave every other week,” she teased.

“Which you more than earned for looking after me,” Lena assured her. “I feel like you need one just for coming back here with the threat of my brother looming over everything.”

“I just want a shot at that backstabbing Eve Teschmacher,” Jess hissed.

“As do we all,” Frank agreed lowly. He was trained with all the skills necessary in order to protect Ms Luthor if need be, but he was generally a man of peace. That Eve though… The way she had betrayed Ms Luthor… of all the shitty things his young boss had had to endure, Eve’s betrayal felt personal. Ms Luthor had taken her into her circle of trust; a hard place to reach, and instead of a kindred spirit, she had found a knife in her back.

Biting back his sorrow at the look of bewilderment on Lena’s face for their unsolicited support, Frank held the door to the gleaming Rolls open for the two women. With a quick wink of support to Jess, he walked around to the driver’s door and climbed behind the wheel. The powerful car started with a throaty purr that was all but lost beneath the perfection of the engine; the ride so smooth that the only way to tell they were moving was by the traffic that yielded to let the gleaming beast in.

A glimmer of colour reflected on the polished dash drew his gaze to the sky and the figure that hung there; a silent sentinel standing watch over National City, and especially, Frank was sure, over Ms Luthor. He would have to be blind not to see the way the young hero watched out for her.

“I actually missed that.” Jess sighed as she looked out of the window at the Super hovering above the buildings. A soft feeling of ‘home’ settling over her even though she knew full well that being in a city with a Super usually led to a life dodging falling masonry. Working for Lena was in truth more challenging though; the woman worked _insane_ hours and while she didn’t expect the same from the people that worked for her, Jess had always found herself doing so because Lena was brilliant and a joy to work for in a way that had Jess striving to do better.

“Did you finally work up the courage and seal the deal with Ms Danvers or Sups up there while I was away?”

“Jess!” Lena barked out, her eyes flying wide. “Stop that,” she hissed, all too aware that Kara could hear her if she chose too. “Kara’s just a friend and she’s- both of them probably, are as straight as a die—”

“Oh please,” Jess snorted, “no one that rocks a button-down and belt that well can claim to be straight. And as for those muscles,” she let out an appreciative whistle that Lena obviously chose to ignore.

“And there are some corners of the lesbian internet that would say that no lesbian should dress as I do—” She broke off, belatedly remembering that she wasn’t actually wearing one of the ridiculously tight pencil skirts Jess was used to seeing on her.

“Yes, about those suits you’ve been wearing lately. Ms Luthor, I can honestly say that there is no heterosexual explanation for this.” Daring to reach out, she fingered the silky soft fabric of the perfectly tailored, black-pinstripe suit her boss was wearing and let out an appreciative purr. “Cate Blanchett would be envious.”

Lena shooed Jess’ fingers away. “Why did I want you back as my assistant again?”

“Because I _won’t_ stab you in the back?”

“Yeah, point taken,” Lena nodded. “I could still demote you to the mailroom though,” she warned teasingly but it did nothing to quell the smirk on Jess’ face. Lena was just glad, and often amazed, at how their working relationship had slipped into a friendship that had survived her setting Jess free to take up a position in a different country so she could make better use of her skills in a country that was generally safer.

She was glad that she could trust Jess. The woman had far too much dirt on her after hearing one too many late night confessions about her true preferences when it came to a partner. Lena should have known better than to pick up her phone after drinking but being able to tell someone that had never judged her on anything other than her working hours had been refreshing.

“As I wasn’t due to start just yet I’m not quite up to speed with your schedule but…”

Lena rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle as Jess whipped out her iPhone and started to prove just how up to date with her schedule she really was. “Fine, I won’t send you to work in the mailroom just yet. As long as you remember my coffee order that is?” Lena narrowed her eyes at Jess playfully.

“Extra black, extra strong, too often for your health, and hold the poison.” She said it jokingly and got a smirk back from Lena but the memory of hearing about that day someone had actually done that was all too clear in Jess’ mind. And knowing what they did now, she couldn’t help but wonder if Eve hadn’t been complicit in the attempt on Lena’s life? If not directly she, as her assistant, should have known better than to buy a coffee from someone they didn’t know when Lena’s preferred coffee stand outside of CatCo had been run by the same family for generations and everyone in the area knew that if Jean Philip wasn’t serving there, then no one was.

They fell into an easy, comfortable, banter as Frank smoothly manoeuvred through the early morning traffic already bustling through the streets of National City and on to the outskirts where it was quieter.

The hospice was well beyond the limits of the city where it was quieter and the air was purer; the grounds of the converted mansion were lush with trees and secluded gardens that had peace settling over her with every breath. While the building looked to be from a bygone era, Lena had helped to ensure that the interior and the care provided to the children and their families as such a tragic time, was anything but. Anything and everything that was needed was provided and done so in a warm and caring environment.

To ensure that they, and the other hospitals she helped, had what they needed, Lena visited at least once and month; usually more often to check in with the patients as well as the staff. The children’s hospital in the city was different, more clinical, as the patients were treated and healed as quickly and as efficiently as possible but while the doctors and nurses there were all about the children and their care, the management was always butting heads with her over profit. The hospice on the other hand, from the ground up, was all about the children and she was constantly having to lean on them to spend more to help make sure the staff didn’t burn themselves out as they tended to forget about their own health in their desire to be there all the time.

“I always forget how heartbreaking this place can be,” Jess sighed as Frank pulled the car to a smooth halt outside of the building where there were already children spilling outside to meet them and more besides peering down from the windows.

“I know,” Lena assured them. “I have to keep reminding myself that they don’t need our pity or heartbreak. We’re, well Frank and Supergirl,” she nodded to where the hero was making a flashy appearance by circling the building to wave at all the children with a huge smile on her too perfect face, “are here to make them feel good… I’m here to fill in boring paperwork.”

Jess wasn’t fooled, not for a moment, they all knew full well that paperwork could be done in the office and meetings conducted over a conference call. Lena was there for the kids just as much as she and Frank were, and just as much as the staff that deliberately ran themselves into the ground were. “You’re not fooling anyone with that cold, professional facade there, Ms Fortune-500 Billionaire-CEO.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Ms Huang. Now, out before Supergirl gets to have all the fun alone.”

As they climbed out of the car, Lena gave Frank’s shoulder a squeeze. She knew without a doubt that the man loved the time with the children but she also knew that he would be worn out from emotional exhaustion before the day was out. “Have fun with them, Frank,” she whispered encouragingly.

“Always, Ms Luthor,” he smiled back softly in appreciation.

“And you too, Jess. Go, have fun, I’ll catch you up later with the reams paperwork when you’re officially back on the payroll.”

Jess could tell by the look in Lena’s eyes there would be no swaying her so she saved her energy for battles she stood a better chance of winning. Like maybe persuading Supergirl to give her a little fly around when she was done with the kids.

Lena kept her gaze away from Kara as long as she could but in the end, it was too tempting. Especially as her laughter filled the air, carried on the wings of the joyous laughter of the children as Kara pretended to succumb to their strength of numbers and collapsed to the ground under a pile of them. Blue eyes twinkled at her from amongst the armfuls of children she was cradling within her strong arms and awakened maternal feelings within Lena she was pretty sure had never existed in her before.

It wasn’t that Lena was opposed to the idea of children. It was just that they were something she hadn’t really imagined for herself. When she had been growing up in the Luthor household her games had involved chess and science, not dolls or playing house. And when she had been in college her mind had been fixed upon pretty much the same. Between that and the joy of just trying to stay alive since then, there had been no time for the thought of children; other than becoming the best aunt she could be for Ruby; and no desire to subject a child to what it would mean to be a Luthor.

But the sight before her… that was stirring thoughts of a mad and impossible future where the children in Kara’s arms were theirs. A Luthor and a Super, working together. That was something they had managed to do quite well in the past even when they weren’t on the best of terms. But as something more than that?

“Ms Luthor! It is lovely to see you again!”

Huffing out a sad sigh, Lena turned her attention away from impossible dreams and back on what she was there for, and strode forward to greet the hospital staff that were waiting for her.

**********

By the time her meetings with the staff were done; most of them conducted quietly between visiting every patient whose parents would allow it so that she could see for herself what each one needed, Lena felt like she had done battle with a train made of Nth metal just using her mind. It had been difficult and often heartbreaking, but it helped her to focus on what her goals were. Especially with the amount that was still there and looking better despite all the odds stacked against them.

The staff lauded her inventions and improvements with the medicines and equipment. And yes, it made a difference but as far as Lena was concerned that was only part of it as the mind needed as much care and attention as the body, and that was down to the staff.

As comforting as the hospital was, it felt good to step outside of its walls and breathe in air that wasn’t tinged with the lingering hints of disinfectant that they just couldn’t get rid of. Moving carefully so as not to jostle the dark-haired toddler perched on her hip or the IV drip attached to her thin arm, Lena listened to the soft voice of the Chief Physician who was lobbying to have the name and function of the building changed so that they would be known for long-term care and not as a hospice. Lena was all for it and had told her so but the woman kept talking as though she was used to having her ideas shot down. And she was doing it in such a soft, soothing way with language that wouldn’t stress out the toddler in her arms that was playing with the beads of her necklace that Lena didn’t have the heart to interrupt her.

The toddler in Lena’s arms gave a yawn as her head softly thudded against her shoulder, her hand flexing and clenching tighter at the end of Lena’s ponytail that was held captive within her grasp. Smiling softly at the trust being displayed by the child and her parents as they hovered close at hand, Lena shifted her hold slightly, supporting her body in case she twitched or thrashed in her sleep.

Her eyes met Kara’s again. The noonday sun was bright; casting a halo around the primary colours of her suit and twinkling off the gold of her hair to make her look like a god stepped down from on high. A being of pure perfection. It was the look in her eyes though, the look of adoration and innocence darkening to yearning as her gaze swept up and down to take her and the toddler in, that had time slowing and saw Lena ducking her head as her cheeks heated up to hide the answering ache she was sure was clear in her own eyes.

There was a sudden shift in Kara’s expression; the blue of her eyes going dark and dangerous in a way that had sparks of fear shooting up Lena’s spine even before Kara’s shoulders and spine stiffened. The hero didn’t move or cry out a warning though so Lena followed her instincts… even though they weren’t always so great in such situations.

Gently she handed the toddler in her arms off to her parents and signalled for Jess to take over for a moment while she quickly made her apologies and followed the path around the edge of the building to get a look at where Kara’s eyes were still fixed upon a point in the sky. A whoosh of displaced air and a quiet thud of a body landing just out of sight was all Lena needed to know who had crashed their time with the children.

Holding up a hand, she signalled for Kara to stay put. Even with the distance between them and the lack of superpowers on her part, Lena was almost sure she could hear the furious grinding of Kara’s teeth as she worked her jaw but Lena ignored her and hoped her quiet utterance of, “it’s okay,” wouldn’t go ignored as she made her way around the building and walked across the lawn towards an outcrop of trees and shrubs.

Lena feared that she would find Red Daughter standing there waiting for her but instead of the now feared uniform of the Kaznian war machine, it was Linda Lee that stepped into the light dressed from head to foot in black. She looked both elegant and menacing in a stereotypical Russian femme fatal kind of way right down to the sneer that curled the fullness of her lips.

Stopping a matter of feet away from her, Lena crossed her arms and looked her up and down appraisingly. “If your goal is to blend in, that ensemble isn’t going to work,” she quipped in an attempt to draw Linda’s attention away from Supergirl. The last thing they needed was a knock-down, drag-out fight breaking out with the children right there. “Why are you here, Linda?” she questioned softly as she closed the gap between them, moving so close she could feel the heat radiating from Linda’s body.

“I-I am not sure, **_kitten_**.” Her eyes were pulled down to the brilliant green of Lena’s as she made a scoffing sound and tapped her fingers against the crook of her elbow. “I just wanted to see,” she stated a little more firmly in an attempt to appease her feisty little kitten before she started hissing at her. As it was it took everything within her not to reach out and touch her to see if she could get her to purr again. “Why is _she_ here?”

“Because she cares about the children.” Seeing the interest in Linda’s eyes, Lena moved around until she was standing shoulder to shoulder with her and they could both see Kara playing with the children. “She can’t always make it if there is any superhero work to be done so we never promise anything to the children—”

“She comes for the glory—” she scoffed.

“Do you see any cameras or reporters around?” Lena cut her off firmly. “All of us are here on our own time. Doing what we can to put a smile on their faces and help them to forget their pain. Do you see the boy she is holding right now?”

 ** _“Yes,”_** Linda’s heart ached at the sight of all the bandages covering most of his fragile young body of the boy who looked to be the same age as Mikhail.

“He was trapped in a house fire… Arson,” Lena forced out past the lump in her throat. “Supergirl was on her way back from a mission in Europe, and even though she was on the verge of solar flaring, she diverted to go help despite all the reports coming through saying that the building was clear. His parents weren’t so lucky but she found him in time. His prognosis wasn’t good, and he’s still far from being out of the woods, but here is the best place for him.”

Best because of an experimental treatment she had created from a highly diluted and controlled form of Harun-El that helped soothe the burns and healed them at a faster rate than any other treatments… but Lena left that unspoken as Linda needed to hear that Kara was good and not focus on anything she had done.

“I wish I could have been there in time for Mikhail,” Linda sighed, her head dropping dejectedly in shame as the words tumbled from her mouth.

Lena placed her hands on top of Linda’s to still their restless clenching and draw Linda’s eyes to meet hers. The pain in them was raw and sharp, an almost physical blow to Lena’s heart.

“Will you tell me about him sometime, please?”

“There is nothing—”

“No,” Lena clasped Linda’s hands tighter between her own even though she was all too aware that just a careless flick of her fingers could send her flying. “Don’t brush aside your feelings like that, Linda. It is obvious that you cared for Mikhail a great deal. And take it from someone that’s a master of hiding her feelings… it’s not healthy.”

“Then, one day,” Linda nodded, her heart lifting under the caress of Lena’s hand and the smile that broke across her lips.

“Becky! Get back here right now, young lady!”

The gruff masculine voice cracked across Linda’s sensitive ears at the same moment there was a timid tug against the right leg of her pants at around the height of her knee. Looking down, she found a toddler with brown eyes and rosy cheeks, staring up at her.

This child, Becky, was nothing like her Mikhail, but as she saw a man with a deep frown on his face storming across the grass towards her, all Linda saw was the small house that was little more than a wooden shack outside of the military base in Kaznia where Mikhail had died… the first night she had seen him after his screams had reached her and she had saved him from the men that were there to hurt him.

Scooping the child up into the safety of her arms, Linda swore she would protect her!

“Hey! Hey,” waving her hand urgently, Lena warded the man off and crouched down beside Linda who was huddled around Becky. “It’s okay,” she gently placed her hand on Linda’s hunched shoulders and started rubbing soothing circles into the steel chorded muscles until they started to slowly unbunch.

Kara raced across the lawn using all her speed; skidding to a halt as Lena held up a hand, urging her to stay back awhile longer. “Lena—”

“It’s okay, Supergirl,” Lena whispered quietly. “Becky just got away from her parents again and her daddy shouted for her. Linda was just protecting her. Isn’t that right, Linda?”

Kara adjusted her stance slightly as Linda lifted her head and revealed eyes leaking with the start of her heat vision… And tears? The sorrow, pain and anguish within them are like a punch to her gut that freezes her in place as her own mind shoots back to all the times she’d felt that way when she had lost her parents, her planet, people she loved, all the times she had come too close to losing more. It held her still, her body locked in place, poised on the edge of acting to offer comfort to someone she was pretty sure would reject her but she needed to.

And that indecision gave the man time to make his way closer and step around her.

“Jeeze! I’m sorry about that, Ms. Mary, my wife, is always telling me off for sounding angrier than I am. She says I could look like a bear with a sore head dragged from hibernation just when I’m smelling flowers. I swear, would never lay a finger on her but it just scares me when Becky manages to sneak off how she does the moment our backs are turned.” Steeling his nerve, he crouched down and held out his hand. “Thank you for protecting Becky. My name is David.”

Linda glared at the offered hand but found the desire to crush his bones to dust or burn his hand off fading as she looked into his eyes and saw only sincerity. “Linda,” she offered along with her hand. She half expected the man to try and snatch the child away from her arms but again he surprised her by simply stroking his daughter’s head when he saw she was comfortable and made no attempt to leave her arms.

Linda was confused.

She was used to the cruelty of these American’s from everything that Alex had taught her; from the books he’d had her read and the news he had shown her clips of. And she had seen it with her own eyes when Alex had allowed her out under the careful supervision of himself or Eve but… the times she spent there alone… the times with Lena… she was seeing a different side to the humans there.

Did they just act differently around Lena in the same way she found herself doing?

Was it all an act? A ruse to draw her from the path Alex had set out for her to save humanity from their corrupt ways?

Linda was only partly aware that Becky had wiggled from her arms and back to her father while she was wracked by waves of confusion that had her body locked in place until another hand came to rest upon her shoulder. Her vision filling with the sight of an S emblazoned across blue. Planting her hand in the middle of it, Linda made to push Kara forcibly away but she was stilled by Lena’s fingers gently enclosing around her wrist.

The simple touch soothed her and held her captive, her hand flattened against the familiar and yet so very foreign crest of El upon Kara’s chest. It should mean something. She knew it meant ‘el mayarah’, ‘stronger together’.

_Together._

_We don’t have to fight._

_Crush them!_

_We’re alike._

_Vapid, profligate fools!_

_I will not be her. I will be me. I will be disciplined. I will follow you and destroy her._

“It’s okay. **_You’re safe._** ”

“I-I do not need your pity—” Linda snarled out, her voice sounding weak and pitiful to her own ears.

“And you don’t have it, Linda. What you do have is a safe space right here with us. **_You don’t need to be alone._** ”

“Alex—”

“Your Alex is not a good man, Linda. I know you know that in your heart—” it was a vain hope that Linda might be willing to listen but she obviously wasn’t ready to hear and it proved to be futile as she could see the walls coming up around the fractured control of her emotions until she stood before them, strong and unyielding once more.

“That boy, the one that was burned… were the people that did it caught?” Linda demanded.

Lena frowned in confusion at the sudden change in direction of the conversation. “Not yet.”

“Then, I will find justice for him as I do for Mikhail… Just as I did for you.”

“What do you mean?” Frowning in confusion, Lena climbed to her feet as Linda did, her hand tightening futilely around her wrist in an attempt to hold her close. “What did you do? Wait—”

“I will see you soon, my **_kitten_**.” Fixing Kara with a challenging stare, she pressed a kiss to Lena’s forehead, stepped back and shot into the sky before Kara or Lena could make a move to stop her.

“Damn it! What did she mean? Jess!”

“Yes, Ms Luthor?”

“I didn’t get to see the news this morning, has there been anything happening?”

“Anything more specific to go on?”

“I’m not sure.” Lena started to pace as she tried to piece things together. “If she was going after revenge for me that could be just about anyone.”

“You do have a way of making enemies, Ms Luthor,” Jess nodded.

“Mailroom, Jess,” Lena warned her as she paced past. “No, this was personal. Mikhail is the key to all this. We need to know who he is… or was… what happened to make everything so personal for her.”

“If we find out exactly where they were holding her in Kaznia we might be able to find out more from that end?” Kara suggested.

“Good idea! Jess, make a note to repurpose a couple of L-Corp’s satellites to look for any indication of Kryptonian activity. And link it in with the Harun-El protocol program on my personal server too. She was brought to life through that and there might well be a residual signature from it we can trace her with.”

“You can do that?”

“There are many things I can do that I don’t tell the government, Supergirl,” Lena waved a hand dismissively and kept pacing. “What did she mean justice for me though? It’s not like— Oh? Jess, try running the members list of that dusty old-boys club I’m unfortunately a member of against any recent news.”

Kara gently snagged Lena’s arm before she could wear a groove into the lawn with her heels and pulled her aside while Jess worked furiously away on her smartphone. “What are you thinking, Lena? What happened?”

“I was there last night and so was Linda—”

“She was spying on you?” Kara’s hands curled into fists at her side as anger surged within her. Lena hadn’t mentioned that part when they talked the night before. In fact, Kara had just assumed that Red Daughter had turned up at her penthouse as she had before!

“No… well, technically I guess. She didn’t threaten me though. Just seemed more curious,” _sweet_ “I invited her back to my place.”

“Lena! That was beyond reckless!”

“And yet once again she was technically not the one that caused property damage there!” Lena pointed out defensively. Containing herself, she released a calming breath before their conversation spiralled and they just ended up butting heads. “Look,” she continued in a calmer tone, “I know she’s dangerous, I’m not stupid enough to think otherwise. Just as _you_ could be dangerous.”

“I’m not—”

“But you _could_ be if you chose to be or if some outside force was making you that way,” she pointedly reminded her of what had happened once before and saw Kara flinch at the reminder of what she had nearly done. “And just as I could be. Linda had that choice taken away from her by a twist of fate and my bald-headed sentimental bastard or a brother. I- we need to give her that choice back, Supergirl. Doesn’t she deserve that?”

“Not at the risk of your life,” Kara whispered brokenly, tears stinging her eyes and clouding her vision at the thought of what the beautiful woman before her was always so frustratingly willing to risk to prove herself… and now Linda, to be good. Unable to help herself even if she had wanted to, Kara tenderly cupped the sharp perfection of Lena’s jaw with her hand. Her eyes swept over her face, taking in everything she was before flickering between the smoky green of her eyes and the lip she was softly biting. “Nothing is worth that.”

“I’ve got something for you. I was going to give it to you later but, under the circumstances, it might be best if you had it now… if you’re willing to give it a try… I mean, I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself but…”

Smiling at Kara’s rambling, Lena placed her hand on Kara’s wrist, grounding her as she fumbled to free her thumb enough to pull back the sleeve of her suit. What she revealed was just a beautiful but normal looking, silver bracelet but as she took it from her wrist and placed it around hers, Kara was blushing furiously in a way that made it feel as though it had a lot more significance.

“What is it… other than a bracelet?”

“J’onn and Brainy helped me to design and make it. Seeing as just about everyone knows about the emergency signal watch that James had we upgraded it.” As she spoke, Kara’s fingers joined Lena’s in touching the bracelet on her narrow wrist. “This one will only work at your touch… and at your thought.”

“What? How is that possible?” Lena peered at Kara and the bracelet intently, trying to get both to reveal their secrets.

“It’s an amalgamation of various alien tech with future knowledge and a touch of Martian magic that even I don’t quite understand how it works so you’ll just have to trust me that it does,” Kara chuckled. “And Brainy said to try and contain yourself from taking it apart to reverse engineer it or you could fracture history.”

“Fine,” Lena pouted. “How does it work then?”

“You just touch it and think about me. I’ll be able to hear your thoughts and find you.”

“That could get embarrassing,” Lena muttered under her breath as her brain unhelpfully flashed to a few times when she had been touching herself and thinking about Kara at the same time.

“What?”

“Nothing!” Lena shot Jess a glare as her assistant let out a choked snigger at her side. “Mailroom,” she hissed. “So, I just press it and think about you… is there anywhere, in particular, I need to touch?”

“Wait,” Kara grabbed Lena’s hand. “Just one thing before you try it.”

“Okay?”

“It was tuned in for me but… there’s a strong possibility that Red Daughter will be able to hear it too. I know you want to trust her but—”

“I understand,” Lena nodded. If Linda proved to be too far under Lex’s control, using it could just make things worse. “If it comes to that though I trust you to fly just as fast as you can.”

“Always.”

Jess cleared her throat gently. “Ms Luthor, Supergirl, I think I’ve found a couple of winners… or losers,” she grimaced as she handed her phone over. “Two members of the boys-club were attacked last night. Multiple broken bones but they’re alive and, according to the police report that I in no traceable way hacked, both of them were crying when their statements were taken and both were saying basically the same thing over and over.”

“What were they saying?”

“That they were misogynistic, homophobic scum that didn’t deserve to live.”

“Ahh. Well. That’s pretty accurate really.” Lena shrugged at Kara’s disapproving look and continued to peruse the news reports and moved on to looking at what she could find about them online. “They had some very thinly veiled things to say when we were leaving. I told Linda I would take care of it but it looks like not listening is another trait she shares with you. Amertek. I believe that’s a company that Lex is behind. Jess?”

“If memory serves, that was one we couldn’t prove when you were cleaning out the swamp he left behind, Ms Luthor. They make weapons and military grade tech, and delight in tiptoeing the line when it comes to, well, everything. They provide weapons to both sides in a conflict without regard of anything except their profit margin and if not directly they provide to middlemen that can arrange it. And the amount of ‘break-ins’ that go on at their warehouses that result in their weapons turning up in even less savoury hands is criminal in a way that can’t be proved. And when anyone does challenge them they have enough lawyers on their payroll and politicians and members of Congress in their back pockets to cover them.”

“If Lex finds out she targeted his own people—”

“He won’t be happy but fortunately, Lex is not the kind to give two shits about anyone other than himself. What he’ll do all depends on what his long term plans are for her and…”

“And?”

“You saw how he was at his trial?” Lena took a breath, her eyes screwing up tightly as Kara nodded and she allowed herself to sink into the pain and horror indelibly ingrained in her memory, heart and soul from that time. “I got to see that madness growing within him… his utter disdain and hatred for Superman… for all things Kryptonian,” she shuddered.

“I think Superman was really just a catalyst for his madness and if he hadn’t been there Lex would have just found something else, anyone else, to pin it on. He was going to destroy the whole planet with his plan to turn the sun red. Everything, just to kill one.”

She could still see it when she closed her eyes; the sun and everything it touched burning red, and still hear the screams from the streets so far below reaching up the height of the looming tower that housed the headquarters of Luthor Corp in Metropolis. She had wanted to cover her ears from the cacophony of sound but Lex had tied her wrists so tightly to the chair in his office she couldn’t move; couldn’t do anything other than listen to them… to him.

Lena had been convinced that she wasn’t going to survive the day. She was going to die. And it would be at Lex’s hands. Every time he pushed the chair she was sitting on around, moving her closer and closer to the huge windows and sneered down at her she was convinced that he would find out she was wearing a wire or would just grow tired of playing with her and just push her out of the window. And all she could do was pray that help would arrive in time to stop his madness.

“That is the level of his insanity. And now. Now he’s managed to twist Linda into believing he’s on the side of good.”

“We’ll work it out,” Kara gently assured Lena as she enfolded her within the shelter of her arms. “You are not responsible for any of Lex’s actions, you never were. And you don’t have to take him or Red Daughter on alone. El mayarah, Lena.”

Lena knew that Kara was right. And yet. There always seemed to be that part of her that didn’t wonder if things would have been different if she had noticed the path Lex was rushing down? If she could have pulled him up or managed to warn someone before it was too late for him?

She didn’t want it to get to the point of being too late for Linda… not while she could still see there was hope in her eyes and that, for the most part, she was willing to listen.

“You really want to help her?”

Kara paused a moment to really think about it. When they had first found out that Red Daughter existed, that there was a clone of her created by accident flying around it had been difficult to think of her beyond being an accident. A piece of her cut off or a twisted mirror image of herself as she was when she had been infected by red kryptonite.

That opinion had shifted slightly over time but more so when she had seen how she had acted over Becky. Yes, Linda was created from her, but she was her own person with her own fears and things that had shaped her into the woman she was and she deserved a chance.

“Yes, I want to help her. If she will let us. She might not, Lena—”

“I know. But I- we have to try. First though…” she gestured around the grounds towards the waiting children. “I believe you are still wanted.”

“Yep,” Kara rocked back on her heels, a smile breaking across her mouth. “No way I’m disappointing any of them. Hey, do you think Frank will let me load that fancy car up and fly it around the ground? Recreate a Harry Potter moment for some of them?”

“You want to—” Lena pinched the bridge of her nose knowing full well she was on the losing side as Kara was using her greatest superpower, her pout. “Just, do not leave it in any trees.”

“No whomping willows, gotcha!”

“Can I come!?”

“Of course, Jess! Hey, what house are you in? Lena, you coming?”

“Go, have fun. Don’t wreck the car until I check that my ‘damaged caused by superhero’ clause in my insurance is up to date. And if that isn’t a thing, it should be,” Lena muttered under her breath as Kara smirked and zipped off after Jess with her sights fixed on the expensive car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayy, welcome home Jess!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Linda pays Lena another visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - I am trying to get back into the feel of this story after such a long break. Going by the formatting of this one where I had left it there was supposed to a chapter before it but reading it it was so sweet and just demanded to be posted so... enjoy... hopefully :)

The familiar thud of boots upon her balcony had Lena smiling in anticipation despite herself as she lowered her book to her lap. She could tell the difference in their landing styles and knew even before she looked over the back of the couch that it was Linda she would see standing there.

Lena knew she should not have been feeling so pleased to see her as she was. She _had_ brutally attacked the executives from Amertek and also several others over the past couple of weeks. But, she couldn’t seem to help herself any more than she could when Kara was around. Really, it was quite sickening how they had both managed to break through her usual reserve so easily and wormed their way into her life and heart.

Linda’s first steps towards the sliding doors were stiff, mechanical and militaristic as though she had just come from doing drills on a parade ground. And, for all Lena knew, maybe she had. Where Linda went to between visiting her and doing Lex’s dirty work was still a mystery despite their best efforts to track her or question her about it and pushing just had her stepping away.

As their eyes touched, Linda’s expression and demeanour grew softer, shyer, her head ducking as she tried to contain the eagerness that seemed to build with each step into the haven of her home. It _was_ her safe place. At least, Lena hoped Linda knew it was one.

No DEO crashing in.

No Kara unless she came in peace and kept it so.

The DEO had been reluctant to accept Lena’s terms but some thinly veiled threats about what her very expensive lawyers would do if they barged in without a warrant had made Haley baulk and back down.

Kara even more reluctant but she had come to understand that the longer she was out from under Lex’s thumb, the better it was for Linda and also the world. Lena knew that Kara was torn and digging her heels in because Linda was her clone and seeing everything she did as holding a mirror up to show what she could be capable of.

**_“Kitten.”_ **

**_“How many times—”_ **

**_“Always one more, Kitten. Always one more.”_** Linda smiled in return as the frown of gentle admonishment on Lena’s face slid into an easy, welcoming smile as she unfolded gracefully from her curled up position on the couch and held her arms open wide for a hug that Linda melted into. She breathed in everything about her; the strength of her hugs; the soft scent rising from her body and hair; the familiar beat of her heart filling her ears and beating against her where they were pressed together.

Even though she knew that their hug went on far longer than propriety dictated, she didn’t want to let go and Lena made no attempt to pull back until Lena showed she was ready to release her. Even then, there was always, always one last squeeze of Lena’s arms around her before that happened that had Linda feeling as though she might float away in joy at the affirmation of her reluctance to part.

“Are you hungry, darling?”

“A little,” Linda admitted with a blush at both Lena’s calling her darling, as well as the loud growl like an angry brown bear that her stomach gave in anticipation at Lena’s question.

“Come on.” Running her hands down Linda’s arms, Lena entwined their fingers together and gave a tug that had her following her to a pile of takeout menus awaiting them on the pristine marble island counter. It was something they had done before during Linda’s visits and yet there was always a moment of hesitation with Linda that Lena wasn’t sure if it was down to a fear that it was a trap of some kind or the part of her that had been taught that America was a corrupt land of excess. Which was true in some regards but, as Lena had pointed out to her before, if Linda didn’t eat what her body needed, she would grow weak.

She was Kryptonian; their bodies needed an insane amount of calories just to function even when they weren’t using their powers. But Linda had been given only enough to get by. If that had been down to the ones that had found her, Lena could have accepted that as being down to a lack of knowledge but Lex knew. He had spent years studying Superman and all things Kryptonian and he knew! He knew what Linda’s body needed to thrive and he’d had with withheld and the only reason Lena could see for that was to control her.

A weak Kryptonian was still powerful and potentially dangerous but less so that one at full strength.

Already, just from the times Linda had visited and had been persuaded to eat her fill, her body was starting to show signs of filling out the clothes she wore as her remarkable body finally had something to build muscle from.

While Linda worked her way through the apps and calls to get their food ordered, Lena watched at Linda walked slowly around her apartment. With hands clasped behind her back as though afraid to touch anything, she studied everything intently. Her eyes grew wide and flew back to her as she found the small framed photo of them together among her meagre but growing collection of photos of her found family.

Fingers trembling, Linda picked the photo up and cradled it within her hands. It was not a big photo compared to some of the others there but… it was at the front and that had to mean something, didn’t it?

 ** _“Kitten—”_** her voice sounded thick with emotion even to her own ears and Linda had to blink away a sudden rush of tears that sprang to her eyes and haloed light around Lena’s body as she strode across the room toward her.

“I hope you don’t mind?” Lena didn’t take the frame from Linda’s hands but she ran her fingers along the edge of it as she looked at the photo within. Linda hadn’t been in her Red Daughter super-suit that day; that would have caused too many questions… which was why the one she had of her in it was in a safe location along with her photos with Kara in hers. She was, however, wearing one of her black wigs so there was no mistaking her as Kara; though, despite that one time when Linda had been pretending to be Kara, Lena had never mistaken them for each other since.

“No-no, I do not mind,” Linda stuttered slightly over the words thickened by emotion as they clung to her throat. “I was just not expecting… this. Thank you, **_kitten_**.” She smiled crookedly at the expected huff Lena gave at her nickname but there was a softness to Lena’s smile as she put the photo back in its place that had her heart singing almost as much as the feel of her fingers trailing across her jaw moments later did.

“I’m going to finish ordering our food. Why don’t you pick us out something to watch? You decide,” she threw over her shoulder to cut off any questions from Linda on what she wanted. Documentaries were more Lena’s style on the few occasions she watched TV on her own. Apart from that, her queues on all the streaming services Kara had persuaded her to join were ninety-five percent cutesy and romantic movies chosen by Kara and five percent action and gay that Alex had sneaked in. Though, in all fairness, there would have been more gay there if there had been more content to choose from but disappointment and lack of time had just sent Lena to the documentary section.

As she finished placing the last order on the long list, Lena realised that there were no sounds coming from the TV across the room. Putting her phone down, she looked back across the room to find Linda staring at the book she had been reading with as much rapt attention she had given everything else.

“Do you like to read?” she asked as she moved closer.

“I love it! Alex sends me books he wants me to read,” Linda’s voice trailed away as she caught the way Lena’s body stiffened at the mention of her brother.

“What does he— No,” Lena waved a hand, erasing the question. She didn’t have to imagine the kinds of books he would have sent her as she had grown up on a steady diet on what the Luthor’s thought was suitable reading material until her eyes had been opened to a million different worlds captured between tightly bound pages at boarding school. “What’s _your_ favourite?” she asked softly. “What do you like to read?”

Linda tilted her head cautiously, her eyes searching Lena’s face to see if it was a trap. She shook the thought away, unwilling to let it take root. “ _The Great Gatsby_ ,” she finally admitted truthfully. “It is beautiful. Lush. I think that’s the word,” she smiled. “The language. It’s hard to even imagine the world that way.” Realising that she had started pacing, Linda froze and looked towards Lena. Alex had been furious when she had even attempted to haltingly try and explain why she had read the book so often that he had sent only to show her the worst of America’s excesses, but there was only interest on Lena’s face and… something else in her brilliant green eyes that had her whole body almost vibrating as she rushed across the apartment with such speed that Linda almost wondered if she had gained superpowers and grabbed her hand again. “Lena?”

“Now you remember my name!” she teased the startled Kryptonian. “Come on,” Lena tugged on her hand. “We’ve got a few minutes until our food arrives.”

Linda could have easily put the brakes on but Lena’s enthusiasm pulled her along in her wake as she was led deeper into the apartment and into what she knew by the heavenly scent and not by any x-ray vision snooping, to be Lena’s bedroom. She barely had the chance to admire the massive bed before she was pulled through a hidden door into a dark side room.

“I know the hidden door is a bit much. But, I am a Luthor and if there was one thing I appreciated growing up in the Luthor Mansion, it was a good hidden room.” Especially when their father had been drinking too much or when Lillian simply decided that she didn’t like the look of her face at any given moment. Not wanting to sully the moment with Luthor family history, Lena kept that to herself and turned on the lights in the room to let the contents speak for her.

She watched Linda’s face; watched as her eyes grew bright and wide as they raked over the floor to ceiling shelves crammed with books.

“These are just my favourites. The ones I keep coming back to and finding comfort in. And sometimes tears,” she admitted softly with a wry smile.

“Tears?” Linda dragged her eyes and fingers away from the spines of the books she had stepped closer to. “Then why keep reading them, **_kitten_**?”

“Because they are beautiful,” Lena smiled as she stepped closer. “Because they open up different times and worlds, even the ones that cause tears,” she added as Linda opened her mouth to question her reading habits again. “I can escape to them all in order to forget everything going wrong. There are so many worlds. A rich tapestry of them all pieced together by individual words that range from fact to pure fantasy from the distant past, to the present and to a far-flung future we can only dream of.”

Linda watched, enraptured by the passion in Lena’s voice as she ran the tips of her fingers across the spines of the books before them. It didn’t matter if the book was bound in the finest leather or was a worn paperback that looked like it had seen better days, each one was looked at and touched like an old friend… or a lover. And really, Linda shouldn’t be envious of a book, but right then she was.

“You can read a hundred books on the same subject and each author will find a way to teach us something different. But mostly because they are beautiful,” Lena smiled as she cast a glance back at Linda. “I would just say to take any you want but I don’t want you to get into any trouble with… you know.”

“That is—”

“You can read them here though,” Lena quickly cut off what felt like an instinctive refusal from Linda before she could voice it. “That’s if you want to read any—” she amended quickly when she realised her offer might sound more like an order than an offer.

Linda stilled Lena’s flustered words with a touch of her fingers upon her arm. “I would like that very much, **_kitten_**. I am not sure where to start though.” Flinging out her arms, she laughed lightly as she took in the vast array of books before her. “There are _so_ many! More than I have ever dreamed of before.”

“There’s not _that_ many. Not really. Is there?” Stepping back, Lena looked at the shelf and ran a quick calculation in her head as to the approximate number of books there and multiplied it by the total number of shelves in the room. “Okay, maybe I’ve got a small hoarding problem when it comes to books.” And that was just the ones she’d bothered to unpack and didn’t include the ones she’d left behind in storage after leaving Jack and Metropolis for her new life in National City.

Thankfully a call came in from the security in the lobby before she blurted that out and Lena left Linda to look at the books and hopefully find one that would catch her eye while she let their food deliveries up.

“Did you find one to read?”

“There are too many for me to decide,” Linda huffed out a small laugh. “Could— would you decide for me?”

Crossing her arms, Lena leaned back against the edge of the kitchen counter while Linda hid herself behind the task of unpacking the many bags to get at their food. “Linda. I don’t want to replace Lex. Bash him over the head with a shovel, yes but I’m digressing. I want you to enjoy reading because it’s something _you_ want to read. There is no right or wrong choice here, just what _you_ want to do. I don’t want to have you feeling like I’m foisting my beliefs and opinions on you how he is doing. Do you understand that?”

Linda could feel that floaty feeling again as Lena puffed at her like an enraged kitten on her behalf. “Yes?”

“Okay. Now, saying that, do you really want a recommendation?”

“I do.” The sudden blush stealing across Lena’s face and the increase in her pulse had her wondering what was wrong but before she could ask, Lena gestured towards the couch and the book she had been reading earlier.

“Then that one.”

“But, you are reading it?” Linda frowned in confusion as to why Lena would offer something so precious it to her.

“I’ve read it before. Twice already this year actually,” she smiled. There was a whoosh of air displaced by a burst of super-speed and Lena found herself looking at an empty spot where Linda had been standing. Chuckling wryly, she gathered up plates and some of the food and made her way to the couch where Linda was standing, her fingers hovering over the book as though afraid to touch it.

“Here.” Picking it up, Lena gently pressed the book into Linda’s hands but didn’t let go straight away. Linda’s wide blue eyes lifted from where their hands touched upon the book cover to meet hers. “I hope you like it but, if you don’t, we’ll find something you do, if not there,” she gestured deeper into the penthouse where her hoard lay, “we can try the library or online. Or you can borrow my copy of Gatsby,” she smiled.

Linda felt a tingle race through her at the thought that had her mind racing and her fingers itching to touch a book they both knew. Was Lena’s copy as worn from turning the pages as hers? Did she return to it as often as she had the one they now held? What parts called to her?

“I— could I—?”

“Top drawer by my bed.” Lena pushed her hair back from her face as Linda raced away again, thankfully not fast enough to damage the floor. She barely had time to get it back under control before it was being blown around again as Linda returned with her nose quite literally buried between the pages of her book with a look of bliss on her face as she drew in the scent trapped within the pages with a deep breath that tugged at things within Lena and had her mind dropped down through all the floors of the building and rolled out into the gutter.

Linda looked up sheepishly as Lena made a noise that was somewhere between a moan, a groan, and a meep. She wasn’t sure how to describe it but it was a rich, thick sound that hung in the air between them and Linda knew she needed to hear it again and again. She took a step forward that was more of a stagger as her body suddenly felt weighed down; her muscles turned to jelly by the blush on Lena’s cheeks and the way her green eyes had darkened to almost black.

A hand pressed against her chest right over her heart, stilling her mere inches away from claiming the soft pillows of Lena’s lips. And while Linda knew she could brush it away with ease, she let the hand restrain her. She wanted Lena in a way she could barely understand but she wanted her to come to her on her own terms, as an equal.

Even as Linda eased back, giving Lena the space she had asked for without anger or malice in her eyes, Lena regretted the motion and tightened her fingers within the soft fabric of the blouse she was wearing enough to feel it sliding between her fingers. The blue of Linda’s eyes brightened even as they were almost lost as she smiled so widely that her eyes crinkled to crescent moons.

Leaning closer, she caught Linda’s cheek near the corner of her mouth in a kiss that lingered a little longer than it should have before she stepped back. “Did you find something to watch while we eat?”

Dazed, her heart racing, Linda cupped a hand to her cheek and held the feel of Lena’s lips pressed against her close while Lena grabbed the rest of the food and gracefully lowered herself to sit on the couch. The soft pat, pat, pat of Lena’s hand upon the seat broke Linda out of kiss induced stupor enough for her to take a place beside her.

“Would you pick for us?”

“Pick, what, darling?”

“What we watch?”

Lena blinked as Linda held the TV remote out to her with a blindingly eager look on her face. It was on her lips to refuse; she wasn’t the best judge on what made a good movie after all. Alex always groaned when she picked out a foreign movie to test her language skills. And she was still wary that Linda might think she could just take the reins of her life and control from Lex and hand them over to her instead.

Linda deserved better than that.

But…

“Have you watched Gatsby yet?”

“There is a movie?!”

Laughing at the burst of excitement that had Linda shuffling closer along the couch until Lena wondered if she was about to climb into her lap; Lena gently plucked the remote out of Linda’s hand before she crushed it and set the movie up ready. “Grab some food,” she urged her gently.

Their viewing moved from movie to TV series and back and as the takeout boxes emptied and stacked up at a steady rate, Lena was hard-pressed to recall anything that had flashed by on the big screen as, just with Kara, watching Linda’s reactions to what she was seeing was more enjoyable. Especially because, as time went by, Linda relaxed enough to express her views honestly. The strongest of which had come at the end of a movie that had left Linda glowering at the TV so hard, Lena was convinced she could see the colour of her heat vision bleeding out from her eyes.

“Linda?”

“Why did _they_ not end up together!?” Gesticulating wildly at the screen, she turned in her seat so she could look at Lena. “That- that _boy_ was abusive in how he treated her and she ended up with him?!”

Biting her lip, Lena turned to mirror Linda’s position on the couch. She had her own views about the show in question but she was eager to hear Linda’s. “Who do you think she should have ended up with?”

“Her friend! It is obvious that there was more to their relationship… they raised a child together! They shared a shower! And then—” Huffing, Linda threw up her arms and slumped back into the couch with enough force to move it back across the floor by several feet as she crossed her arms and glared at the screen as the two ‘friends’ went their separate ways as the one kissed her ‘love’ in a way that was wholly unsatisfying.

“You’re not wrong,” Lena smiled gently as she patted Linda’s leg. “At least you took it slightly better than Alex did. She drew her gun on the TV when she watched it with Kara and then gave me a two-hour lecture complete with articles to back up her argument when I asked her about it. Unfortunately, even in countries such as America where same-sex relationships are legal, there are more people that believe that it is wrong and are willing to back up those beliefs with violence.”

The way Lena’s posture slumped and became small with the cushions of the couch and her hand lifted, her fingers unconsciously rubbing at the small scar near her right eye had Linda moving closer ready to comfort her.

“Things are slowly getting better but with every step forward it sometimes feels like there are two or three in the opposite direction in all walks of life. When it comes to the screen, both big and small, there is more diversity now but with that there always seems to come with it a backlash online and in-person towards the actors and creators and, with this movie, the studio that created it used the chemistry that everyone saw and used it to draw the LGBTQIA+ community, even teasing it in their promotion of the movie that they would get together, and then they backed out and this was what they gave us.”

Lena curled her nails into Linda’s thigh, drawing her attention as the glow around her eyes flared up to the point it was lighting the room.

“And you are not to attack any movie executives, burn studios, hunt online trolls or do anything about it… right? That is not the way to affect change. No matter how satisfying it would be.”

“Fine,” Linda pouted. “On one condition though.”

“Oh? And what is that condition, Ms Lee?”

Linda’s brain stuttered at the predatory purr in Lena’s voice as she turned those stunning eyes on her and quirked a dangerous eyebrow upwards. She wanted to ask for a kiss. She needed to feel and taste her lips against her own like she needed the sun for her strength!

But while she was sure that Lena’s kiss could save her own life, Linda didn’t want Lena, not even in teasing, to think she had to kiss her to save the lives of others. That was not what she wanted.

“Would you read to me, please, **_kitten_**?” Picking up the book Lena had been reading earlier, Linda timidly held it out with a hopeful smile.

**********

Linda fell into the world Lena painted with her voice as she read to her, only being drawn out as Lena’s voice slowed and finally came to a halt and her body grew lax against where it was resting against her side. With a fond smile, Linda tucked a stray strand of hair behind Lena’s ear and lightly cupped her cheek.

“Lena, **_kitten_**?” With a soft murmur, she nuzzled trustingly closer and Linda’s heart swooped and soared again but Lena didn’t awaken.

With the utmost care, Linda scooped her up and gently floated them both into Lena’s bedroom so as not to disturb her and placed her on her bed. She looked so beautiful and peaceful with her dark hair fanning out across the pillow and she turned onto her side with one hand lying palm up beside her head, her fingers gently curled.

A small shiver fan through her body, causing her brow to crease had Linda reaching for the comforter folded at the bottom of the bed and laying it across her body.

 ** _“Sleep, my sweet kitten, my Lena.”_** Bending down, she pressed a tender, lingering kiss to Lena’s temple before she reluctantly stepped back and, with one more look over her shoulder to take in everything she could before she left with the books Lena had let her borrow clutched over her heart.

The apartment she was using on the rent-controlled side of National City was not close to Lena’s but Linda could reach it within seconds. She flew slowly though, holding the books and the memory of her time with Alex’s sister close before she had to let them go.

Lingering high above in the darkness, she looked around carefully and listened too, filtering through the chaos to make sure everything was clear before she dropped down and alighted upon the fire escape outside of her window. Even then, though she was sure, Linda looked around the almost barren apartment to make sure she was alone. Alex had been busy elsewhere but he had warned her to stay away from Lena and she was not fool enough to believe that he wouldn’t somehow find out. He had too many eyes and ears around.

All was quiet though, the apartment she had laid out to be similar to Kara Danvers’ so she might better be able to understand her looked not to have been disturbed since she was last there.

As though conjured from her thoughts, Linda caught a glimpse of red and blue streaking beyond the window and watched as Kara alighted on her fire escape as she had and went inside… but not before she had turned and looked intently across the skyline to where Linda knew Lena slept and let out a sigh.

With Lena’s books still held close, Linda made her way to bed. Her fingers caressed over the pages, following the words Lena had read to her but moving no further. Although Lena had given them to her to read herself, she wanted Lena to finish the story for her.

Smiling softly at herself, Linda picked up the journal she had secreted beneath a loose floorboard underneath her bedside table. She had two journals, one that was easily found that was filled with general observations about her sister and what she had seen in America. That was one that would please Alex while the one in her hands would not. That one that was all hers.

Flicking through it, she ran her fingertips over certain words, descriptions and sketches she had made. Her sister liked to paint images of a world long dead, Linda preferred the feel of a pencil or pen between her fingers and the finer details it created. All of it, everything within the journal, was about Lena and her feelings for her… her love for her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soft Supercorp time.

The sharp, staccato click of expensive heels striking the floor was one that Jess knew all too well. Looking up from her desk, she wanted as Ms Luthor strode towards her looking as fresh as when she had arrived that morning even though it was after seven PM and L-Corp was all but empty apart from security, cleaners and herself as well as Ms Luthor.

And apparently a frazzled looking executive from one of L-Corps many financial departments who was valiantly trying to keep up with Ms Luthor while the papers he was holding threatened to tumble out of his hands as he tried to make his point.

He was known to be an acerbic personality that grated on everyone he came into contact with and Jess was all ready to go to Ms Luthor’s rescue… but she suddenly stopped and turned to face the bedraggled looking man. Jess couldn’t hear what was said but he straightened as she spoke and actually gave what was the first smile Jess had ever seen from him before he rushed away leaving Ms Luthor to continue her walk back to her office.

“Jess, get in touch with Doctor Avery in research in the morning and tell him that if the doesn’t deliver the report he promised me by the end of the week or I’m cutting back funding on his project.”

“Yes, Ms Luthor… Lena,” Jess amended as the perfect line of her boss’s eyebrow climbed in gentle admonishment. “I’ll get right on that for you. The information you asked Security for on the Japanese investors is on your personal drive ready for your attention.”

“Thank you, Jess. And, Jess?”

“Yes, Ms… Lena?”

“Go home.”

“But—”

“I mean it, Jess. It’s late. Go home.”

“Then, as your friend as well as your overpaid personal assistant, maybe you should do the same?”

“I’ll think about your suggestion, Jess… Once you’ve gone home.” Lena hid a smile as she made her way into her office with Jess’ exasperated sigh following her. With the door closed behind her, Lena shrugged out of her suit jacket and rubbed the back of her neck in an attempt to rid herself of the tension she had been holding onto through meeting after meeting that day.

Maybe Jess was right, maybe she should head home early. Early for her anyway.

The decanter of whiskey was calling her name but Lena decided to ignore it in favour of some water instead. She knew herself well enough to know that if she had even one drink of whiskey she would end up having another and another, until she ended up spending the night on the couch, to face Jess’ wrath in the morning with a sore head.

A soft sound, the whisper of a breeze caught in fabric stilled Lena’s hand just as she was about to pour herself a drink. Head whipping around more in confusion than fear, she looked out through the window and saw a familiar figure in an unfamiliar position.

Crossing the room, her brow furrowing a little as her presence drew no response even though she knew that her super hearing could probably pick her up anywhere in the building, Lena stopped on the threshold of the balcony door. If it was anyone other than Kara… or Linda… Lena would have been panicking at the sight of her friend sitting on the wall of her balcony with her feet dangling over the edge with nothing between the soles of her boots and the forty-story drop to the street below.

It was a drop that still featured in some of Lena’s nightmares even though Kara had saved her from it after her mother’s goons had accidentally pushed her over the edge.

“Kara?” Getting not even a flicker of recognition, Lena stepped out onto the balcony and leaned nonchalantly against the wall Kara was sitting on. “Kara?”

“Oh! Hi, Lena! I didn’t hear you come out!”

There were a few comments Lena could have made to that. Ones that would have revealed more of her childhood and boarding school experiences than she wanted to go into but Kara looked too distracted to appreciate them.

“What has Supergirl darkening my balcony like some primary coloured gargoyle?”

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Kara sighed. Letting her body drift upwards, she turned and alighted beside Lena, her posture unintentionally mirroring her friends as she leaned against the wall facing her. “Colonel Haley won’t let me back in the DEO even with a doughnut peace offering and who refuses doughnuts?.”

“Ahh,” nodding at the second heartfelt sigh, Lena edged closer along the wall until their shoulders touched. “You do remember that you’ve got a perfectly good apartment to go to, right?”

“I can’t keep going in and out dressed like this, Lena. Well, I could but… I just miss it. Being there. It kind of makes me regret all the times I’d wished I didn’t feel like they were bossing me around. And it is so hard to know just which scream of help to follow without Alex’s help,” Kara admitted with a blush as she remembered what she had seen earlier when she had been following the sound of an impassioned scream of her name. “Anyway, if I go to my apartment I’m just going to end up eating all the ice cream in my freezer again so I thought I would come and hang out here.”

Instinctively, unbidden, Lena’s hand travelled up along Kara’s back beneath the weight and warmth of her cape. After years of being kept in the dark and not having the closeness with Supergirl, it still felt somewhat strange to know, see, and treat her as Kara when she was dressed like that but the need to comfort her friend won out over everything.

“You can come and hang out here any time you need to. You know that, right? Doesn’t matter if I’m here or not, there are no cameras inside unless I activate them so the couch is yours any time you need to just chill. And if you need ice cream—”

Lena broke off as she felt Kara’s shoulder hunch over guiltily at the same time as she saw a stack of empty tubs sitting on the balcony table the other side of Kara.

“Ahh, I see. You already found the ice cream, huh?”

Kara huffed and blew her hair out of her face, giggled loudly and shuffled on the spot in a dance that parents across the world, and probably every other in every universe, had seen.

“Yes,” Kara whined. “I got bored and hungry and…” she threw up her arms and peeked at Lena through her hair. “I’ll make it up to you?”

“Did you at least leave me a tub?”

“Erm, half?” Kara’s guilty admittance became a bloom of something that filled her with warmth and the desire for more as Lena threw back her head, revealing the elegant lines of her throat and jaw to her hungry gaze as she laughed. The sound was rich and joyous, her smile wide and dazzling. But Kara found it impossible to drag her eyes away from her throat and the overwhelming desire to press her lips to it. She wanted to taste her and feel her joy vibrating against her lips and compare them to all the other sounds she dreamed about pulling from her.

Dreams that had been born from the very first moment she had found herself at the centre of Lena’s attention when she had gone with Clark to ‘interview’ Lena about the explosion on the _Venture_. She had felt both trapped and yet safe beneath the crystal green of her eyes as Lena had turned them from sparing with Clark onto her, and asked for a chance to step out from under Lex’s legacy to prove herself and Kara had felt the desire resonate deep within her along with the longing to be there and help Lena do everything she wanted.

She had never told anyone; they would have thought back then that Lena was somehow manipulating her. But Lena was the reason she had worked out that she wanted to become a reporter. As Supergirl she could use the powers given to her by the yellow sun of her adopted home to inspire and fight the big battles, while Kara Danvers could shed light on injustices and affect change on a larger scale for even more.

When Mon-El had been forced to leave the first time, Lena was the reason that Kara was finally able to re-find herself and realised there was joy still there.

There was Lena.

There was always Lena.

Struggling to stay afloat when it would be easier to give in to the expectations of others because she was pure and good. Even when she stumbled and faltered she picked herself up and tried to do better; shouldering blame that wasn’t her own and annoyingly willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

When Edge had tried to poison the water with a plane full of chemicals and the plane had broken into two in her hands, Kara had been left with what should have been the heartbreaking decision of letting the half with Lena in go to save the lives of everyone else. To sacrifice Lena just as she had Mon-El when she had poisoned the atmosphere with lead to save Earth from the Daxamite invasion.

But, there was no decision to be made. She had let Mon-El go but she couldn’t do the same with Lena, Every time, every single time, she would save Lena. If it had been Lena instead on Mon-El, Kara might have done the same, but she would have left with Lena and found a home somewhere else because she loved her.

She, Kara Zor-El, loved Lena Kieran Luthor more than her adopted planet. Rao, she loved her even more than pot stickers! It had been there, right in front of her the whole time but she had refused to name or acknowledge the depth of it until then. It was why she had reacted so badly to her making Kryptonite. It was why she had held onto her secret identity long past when it was reasonable to do so, for fear of losing what she had with Lena.

She loved Lena.

“You look deep in thought there, Ms Danvers.”

Kara turned more fully into Lena’s space, losing herself for the moment in the way Lena’s eyes grew darker in response to her closeness and the way her teeth bit down gently into her bottom lip as those eyes darted between her eyes and her mouth.

“I was just wondering—”

“Hmm?” Lena prompted as Kara’s voice trailed away.

“I—”

“Words, darling. It is not like National City’s best reporter to be so lost for them.”

No, but it was Kara’s when faced with truths she had hidden from herself. “I—” Kara tried, she really did, but the more she floundered, the more Lena became attentive and tried to soothe her with gentle touches that did absolutely nothing to calm the jittering of Kara’s nerves. Rao, the woman she loved was touching her with her perfect, soft hands and she was looking at her!

“I— helpmedoresearch!! Would you help me with some research!?” blurting out words, real words, even if they weren’t the declaration of love that Kara wanted to say, was such a relief that Kara sagged a little as she stepped back from the orbit of Lena’s presence.

“You want my help with research?”

“Erm, yes? If you want that is? You know Lex better than anyone… Rao, he’s probably not something you want to spend time researching, is he? Forget I asked! I’ll just go.”

“Hold on there!” Snagging Kara’s cape before it could get out of reach, Lena pulled Kara back down to her. “Give a poor human a chance to catch up with your thoughts, darling,” she smiled softly. “There is nothing I want more than Lex back behind bars so yes, I will help if I can. I’m just surprised that you would need it especially as he had managed to best and manipulate me my whole life and I’m the reason he’s out there right now.”

“Fresh pair of eyes, right? And,” hooking Lena’s chin with her finger, Kara tilted her face back up. “You are not the reason Lex is out and about. We already know he’s been walking in and out of that prison since the moment he was locked up. He could have gone at any time but he wanted to make his grand escape where he knew it would hurt the most… in the presence of the brilliant woman that helped put him behind bars in the first place. You bested him once Lena… feel up to doing it again?”

The very thought of Lex was enough to bring Lena down from even the best of moods as she remembered the boy that had welcomed her into the cold Luthor mansion. He had been a terrible brother, always pushing her into doing things she didn’t want to that could, and did, end with her being punished more often than not, and testing her while jotting things down in his notebooks when he didn’t think she was looking. But, she had been young and hadn’t known that that wasn’t the way siblings behaved until years later when she had seen one of the gardeners with his sister when she was allowed home from boarding school one summer and seen the care and attention she had never had herself. By then it was too late and Lex’s form of ‘love’ was the only kindness she knew and like any abused dog, she’d still gone running with her tail wagging when he’d called.

Right up until she’d realised the sickness within him and how dangerous he had become not only to himself but the world.

Then she had acted. Alerting the FBI when her pleas to Lex and her mother had fallen on deaf ears. When the FBI had finally decided to listen, she had put herself right into the path between Lex and Superman, risking her life to get evidence through the wire he hadn’t thought to check his pet sister for and giving evidence so he could be locked away.

Of course, Lex being Lex, he was refusing to stay locked up.

“Research it is then.” Lena felt a smile rising in response to the beaming one on Kara’s face. “Could we do it somewhere else though? If Jess finds out I stayed in the office even for this, she will make my life hell in the morning.”

“Sure!” Kara’s voice rose and squeaked as Lena leaned in with a playful smirk to deliver her request and her brain stuttered at the thought of getting to spend time with a Lena in a more relaxed environment. Even though it was nothing new, her feelings now admitted to herself were. “Where— Erm, where do you want to do this?”

“My place and we can order in?”

“What about Linda?” Kara wanted to kick herself for asking as Lena’s smile fell away and her lips turned down at the corners.

“If she turns up we can stop… or grill her for questions. But I think we both know she’s off doing something for Lex,” she sighed.

“You’re worried about her?”

“Yes. She might have similar powers to you, Kara—”

“Well, she is a copy of me.”

“Linda looks like you, she might even have your DNA. Though, that might not be the case with the harun-el. But she hasn’t got your life experiences, Kara. From what she has said, all she had when she woke up was the name, Alex. She didn’t know who that was or what it meant. Which is why Lex managed to get his claws into her so easily,” she growled in frustration at the trust he had managed to gain all because of a similarity in names. “She doesn’t remember Krypton because she was never there. It— Kara, it would be like comparing the Superman we know to the person he would have been if he had stayed on Krypton. Or even you, Kara. Who might you have been if you had stayed with your parents and not been adopted by the Danvers?”

Kara dropped her head in thought. She had wondered the same thing herself more often than she would have liked to admit. Each question coming on the heels of a revelation about the parents she had blindly worshipped as all young children did before they grew and learned to question everything around them.

Her mother had used her to help capture her Aunt Astra.

Her father had been behind the Medusa virus; a weapon designed to target and wipe out all alien life other than Kryptonian’s.

They were not the actions of the people she had loved. And yet they were. And if she had grown up on Krypton surrounded by their beliefs… If she had joined the science guild when she was supposed to… Who might Kara Zor-El have become?

“Who would I be if my mother had lived and I had been brought up in Ireland with her?” Lena quickly dashed away the tears filling her eyes.

“You see yourself in Linda?”

“In some ways, maybe.” Just as she saw similarities in herself and Kara; two orphans trying to step out of the shadows and live their own lives but with herself, everyone had always expected darkness while Kara was sunshine. “It is hard not to when you see someone else manipulated by Lex. The point I am trying to make though, is that Linda is her own person. You are alike in looks but you are not the same. You never were. There is a goodness to her though, an innate desire to do good that Lex has twisted to his own ends. And, I worry about what will become of her when she finally realises what Lex is truly like because I have been there too and know what it can do to find that out. If he lets her live once she finds out.”

Kara lifted her head, a sudden and very unexpected flare of concern for Red Daughter rising in her at Lena’s hushed tone. “You think he will try to kill her?”

“He will do more than try, Kara. Right now, he has got what he always wanted, a Kryptonian weapon. He would not have put her in place without having a way to take her down already waiting. And once she becomes useless to him, she’s _just_ a Kryptonian, and Lex _hates_ Kryptonian’s more than anything. She deserves a chance at life, Kara. Surely you can see that?”

“I can see that you want it for her. I’m just not sure how she can have it with what she’s done. Even though she’s being manipulated and used, the government isn’t going to like her flying around. When I first came out the DEO shot me out of the air using Kryptonite and given half a chance Haley would do the same. Which was why Alex had had her memories changed.”

“It is a big planet, Kara. There are even others she could visit. Or, at the very least she could change her hairstyle and get a different pair of glasses.”

“Ugh, you’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” Kara whined pitifully, shuffling from foot to foot as Lena went back into her office to put on her jacket and collect her purse.

“Nope. It reminds me of how blinded I was by a pretty face and a pastel cardigan for so long.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Fishing for compliments, Ms Danvers?”

“Just clarifying your quote like any good reporter,” Kara countered as she gently wrapped her arm around Lena’s waist, pulling her flush to her body ready to take to the skies. The familiar move had her swallowing heavily, her heart pounding further as Lena placed her free hand over the crest on her chest.

“Then, in the interest of good and honest reporting. You, Kara Zor-El Danvers, Supergirl,” she purred lowly as she slid her hand up along Kara’s chest to skim across her broad shoulder to cup her jaw, “are beautiful in every way.” Closing what little gap remained, Lena pressed a kiss perilously close to the corner of Kara’s mouth and clutched her tighter as Kara seemed to forget about a little thing like gravity and floated them up in the air. “Kara! If you drop me, I’m suing!”

Laughing joyously, Kara slid her hand beneath Lena’s thighs and scooped her securely in her arms. It wasn’t the easiest position to fly in but, it was the most intimate and Lena didn’t seem to mind as she tucked her head in against her shoulder for the far too brief flight to her penthouse apartment.

Kara placed her down gently on the balcony and then whooshed away, returning seconds later with all her research in hand from a flyby to CatCo and her apartment as well as an emergency box of doughnuts.

“If you want to get more comfortable you can borrow something from my wardrobe while I put in our usual orders.”

Knowing full well that Lena’s comfortable clothing consisted mostly of what she had ‘borrowed’ from her own wardrobe during game nights, Kara went and changed into one of her old grey NCU sweatshirts but not before breathing in the scent of Lena that lingered in the fabric. As she did so, she couldn’t help but hope and wonder if Lena would do the same at the end of the night once it was returned to her with her scent on it again?

Was that creepy? It seemed a bit creepy. She had never had that desire with Mon-El and yet the thought still lingered and made her blush and hope.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Kara finished getting changed, moving at speed more normal for humans so she could linger there, so close to where Lena slept before leaving the vastness of Lena’s walk-in closet before she got lost in daydreams amongst the expensive clothing. Her feet faltered, bare toes tangling with the thick carpet and mouth going dry as she entered the bedroom and saw Lena there. Her green eyes were shuttered behind a swathe of thick lashes as her fingers combing through the silky length of her unbound hair until it spilt across pale shoulders exposed by the camisole she had stripped down to, in careless waves of loose curls.

Kara unstuck her feet and walked slowly across the plush carpeting as she caught a knowing quirk of Lena’s smile even though there was no other indication that Lena had realised she was there until she was standing right in front of her. She loved this side of Lena, even though it left her all kinds of flustered. She was softer, the sharp edges she protected herself with smoothed away and a hopeful glint in her eyes that Kara had never dared dream had meant anything other than friendship.

She dared then.

Oh, she dared.

Leaning down, closing the gap until she could feel the warmth and electricity of promise tingling in the air between their softly parted lips, she plucked Lena’s thick-rimmed glasses off the bedside table and slipped them into place on her face with a cheeky smile.

Lena was left blinking, her heart racing a mile a minute as Kara dashed away at full speed leaving her wondering if she hadn’t imagined the heat and desire in Kara’s eyes.

When it came to Kara Danvers, Lena was used to being the one doing the teasing. Which meant that she was essentially teasing herself with all the imagined responses from her painfully straight best friend.

This.

This was new.

Unexpected.

And it made her body tingle.

Lena finished getting casual and comfy and made her way back into the living room to find Kara busily spreading her research out across every available surface. Her cheeks were bulging as she chewed on a half-eaten doughnut that was dangling out of her mouth and there was a thick dusting of powdered sugar on the tip of her nose and the bridge of her glasses where she had obviously pushed them up her nose.

Shaking her head fondly at the sight, Lena stood back for a moment and watched as she ordered her papers and thoughts. Following the trail of papers as they took shape, Lena followed Kara’s thoughts amongst the evidence she had gathered together and reordered some to fit what she knew. Her actions drew Kara to her side as she looked at what she had done and rushed ahead to change her papers to fit.

Barely a word was spoken as they worked like that, ordering, correcting, sharing details and passing around food when it arrived.

It took several hours but Lena finally stepped back from the window that had become filled with scrawled notes and questions in different coloured markers as they had gradually answered until it had been boiled down to a list of names; some of them high up in the Government, including the President himself.

And a set of coordinates in Kaznia.

“So,” Kara took a long sip through her straw, sucking at the remains of her milkshake from _Big Belly Burger_. “Fancy a road trip to Kaznia?”

“I’m driving,” Lena smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^^^ Research buddies!!!!!


	7. Chapter 7

Seeing the look on Kara’s face; the combination of disbelief and confusion, Lena crossed her arms, her fingers tapping against her bicep as she waited for her to get out whatever had the crinkle appearing between her brows.

“What’s wrong?” She finally demanded as Kara just stood there eying her plane as though staring at it would make something happened.

“I can fly faster than that.”

“Yes, but not carrying me you can’t without killing me doing so. Unless you were lying about wanting me along for this. In which case I’ll just have all the food I had stocked into it just for you unloaded and fly there on my own in comfort.”

“Food?”

Lena rolled her eyes as Kara’s face lit up hopefully and the look she gave her plane turned to one of fondness.

“Yes, food. Including enough pot stickers to sate even your appetite so you could get to Kaznia and back fully rested and charged up. But, if that doesn’t interest you,” she teased knowing full well she had Kara at food.

“But, Lena, what about the pilot?”

“Kara, the plane is mine. Do you really think I wouldn’t have supped it up in one way or another? It’s designed to be untraceable by all radar except for ones I’ve designed myself. There are countermeasures to protect against any attacks just in case… most attacks using Earth technology,” she amended. “I have no doubt that it wouldn’t stand a chance of evading your powers. I’d like to think to would give you a run for your money though. It’s faster than it looks and… there’s no risk of the pilot being replaced, bribed or falling ill mid-flight as there is no pilot.”

“No— There’s no— pilot? Really?”

“Really.”

Kara eyed the sleek jet warily. Really, it shouldn’t surprise her to find out that Lena had replaced the pilot as she tended to put an alarming amount of faith in technology, but she hadn’t thought that that level of technology was viable. “If there’s really no one to fly that? What if something goes wrong? What if it’s hacked?!”

“Kara, not even I can hack the system and I designed it.” Edging closer while Kara was distracted by her almost fierce appraisal of her flying baby, Lena decided that she was owed a little revenge for how Kara had ran hot and cold and had her thinking more than once that she wanted to kiss her the night before. “And in the unlikely event that something did happen I know, every single way to turn it on, Kara.”

“You— you do?” Kara swallowed heavily and fidgeted with her glasses at the husky tone that suddenly thickened Lena’s voice. “You know how to—”

“Turn it on. Which buttons to press. How to _tease_ just the right responses out of it and make it soar under my control.”

“I, erm— I bet you do.”

“If you want I could give you a personal demonstration sometime.” Leaving Kara looking delightfully like her brain had stalled, Lena resisted the urge to close her agape jaw and turned on her heel and walked towards her plane. “Are you coming or not, Kara?” There was a very gratifying, strangled _meep_ of a sound from behind her and then a familiar whoosh as air was displaced that ended with Kara right at her side, her hand solid and warm at the small of her back as they climbed the steps and entered the plane that suddenly felt smaller than it should for a plane that could comfortably carry ten passengers with Kara’s presence filling it.

“I just need to enter the flight plans. Try not to eat all the food before we even take off.”

“Spoilsport. Do you need my help with anything?”

“Not really, darling. But, if you want to see how it’s done, feel free to come and watch.” Lena was almost sure that Kara would take the option that would give her space and access to food but there was another, gentler stirring of air and suddenly Kara was right there in the co-pilots seat, so close that Lena could feel her heat radiating from her body. How had she never realised or registered that Kara ran so much hotter than a human? Was it because she was actively using her power instead of holding back to appear human?

“You’re so hot.”

“Why, thank you, Ms Luthor.”

“I meant your body temperature,” Lena blustered and blushed, swatting futility at Kara’s bicep with the back of her hand. “Is that because you’re not trying to hide your powers around me now?”

“I— I guess. Alex has never said anything before,” Kara sighed at the thought of what she’d lost with her sister.

“Kara, if anyone can break what was done to her memory I would bet everything I was worth on that being Alex. She’s tough and determined. She’ll find a way.”

“I hope so. I miss her. For the record though, I hate what I hid from you for so long. I should have insisted and told you sooner. But, I will never regret one moment we were together and I could just be me. Where I could just be human. You once said that Kara Danvers was your hero and I— I kind of loved that I could be that. Everyone else knew I was Supergirl and sometimes it felt like that was all they saw. You, you saw a wannabe reporter from Midvale and I could be just that.”

“We can still have that Kara. I don’t want more than you’re willing to give.”

“No— I prefer this I think. I like you knowing. I liked being human but it also hurt that I couldn’t give you everything. I never liked change before. My planet changed and I lost my parents. I don’t do well with change. That was partly why I didn’t push too hard when I was told not to tell you. I was afraid that if I did I would lose you and— I can’t lose you, Lena. I just can’t.” Turning in the seat, Kara stared deep into the calming green of Lena’s eyes and watched them darken as she tucked a strand of silky soft dark hair behind her ear. Her eyes dropped to the full curve of Lena’s mouth and her own lips tingled as the pad of her thumb brushing perilously close to the corner of it. “Change scares me but— I think not stepping out and taking a risk would hurt me more,” she whispered as she leaned closer.

Kara had been kissed and had kissed others before but there was nothing on Earth or anywhere else that compared to that first delicate, almost hesitant brush out their lips meeting. Electricity coursed along her spine and bloomed across the base of her skull as Lena’s hand cupped the back of her neck. Their heads tilted in perfect sync, back and forth, their noses bumping and brushing, their kiss deepening slightly with every moment even as it remained so soft it felt like a dream to Kara.

A perfectly, wonderful dream.

Kara couldn’t say which of them moaned first but suddenly she was struck by an urgency that made every bit of space between them intolerable. Fingers grasped into clothing and hair, each pulling the other closer. Her mouth parted eagerly as the tip of Lena’s tongue brushed between the seam of her lips and the taste of their moans and the delicate probing swipe of tongue against her own filled her mouth, sending a primal wave of heat crashing through her system beyond anything she had ever felt before.

They pulled back slowly, their lips clinging softly together until their foreheads rested together. Even though Kara didn’t need to breathe as often as a human, it was just as ragged as Lena’s as the heat of it burst against her lips.

“Wow.” She giggled in soft wonder, her lips searching out the taste and feel of Lena’s instinctively to capture the smile upon them for herself.

It was the rough feel of Kara’s Supergirl suit beneath her searching fingers that drew Lena back to herself. Reluctantly so. Nothing would have pleased her more than dragging Kara back to the comfier seats and pitting her formidable intelligence that was hampered by desire into getting Kara out of the skin-tight suit, but they had more pressing matters to attend to in Kaznia.

Unfortunately.

Kara moaned thickly as she pointed that out, the sound soothed her to know that Kara was as affected by their unexpected kiss as she was.

With trembling fingers, Lena carefully entered all the information the plane needed for the flight and checked and tripled check to make sure so they didn’t land somewhere entirely different because of what had happened between them.

What had happened between them?

Obviously a kiss. Even Lena with her limited dating knowledge that had been men best left as friends and the occasional one-night stands knew what a kiss was. However, she couldn’t remember one that had affected her so deeply or one that had left her so eager for more. Eager to feel the lips she was looking at intently instead of what her fingers should have been doing with the controls.

Lena had long dreamed of kissing Kara, how could she not. She had also, in some part of her mind where maybe she had already equated one with the other, imagined what it would be like to feel Supergirl’s mouth claiming hers with more force and passion. There was always one thing wrong with her imagination though and that was that thinking of either of them had been wrong because…

“I thought you were straight.”

Kara sat back in the co-pilot seat and held her hand out for Lena to anchor herself on. “On Krypton, dating was different. Partners were picked by a computer and babies were created by DNA samples.”

“That sounds… clinical?”

“It was. I guess. It was just the way things were as pregnancies as you know them were almost a thing of the past. Kal was an exception, the first for many generations, but it was frowned upon. Because of that though, same-sex relationships were just something that happened as were affairs outside of the chosen partnerships as people fell in love.”

“Love is love.”

“Indeed. That’s how it should be. When I arrived here though,” Kara sighed as she remembered everything that had led up to her pod’s arrival on Earth, the sound of her mother’s tears and her own screams louder than the death of Krypton. “I was thirteen at the time. I had to learn a new language. Unlearn everything I knew and was expected to fit in and control my powers. I went from Science Guild protégé to bumbling teen that had to literally fly under the radar.”

“Science Guild? You know science?”

“Not the point right now, Lena.”

“Hmm, maybe not but I will have questions later,” Lena warned.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less. But, back to what I was saying before you nerded out on me. Part of fitting in meant passing as a school at a time in life when many kids are hyperaware of anyone that isn’t like them.”

“I know that all too well,” Lena grumbled bitterly. “Oh!” she blurted out in sudden realisation, equating her own experiences to Kara’s.

“Yeah. There was one girl at the school that was seen kissing another girl and she was bullied to the point that her parents had to move her to another school. I learned quickly from that and I’m ashamed to say that ‘I’m not gay’ became part of my language quicker than many colloquialisms.

“So, you like girls?”

“I like you, Lena. I think I’ve crushed a little on others, girls do smell nice,” she grinned, her shoulders rising in a shrug. “But you, you’re the first one I’ve wanted to do _that_ too.”

“Kiss?” Lena teased as a pretty blush stole across Kara’s cheeks.

“Yes, that. I think I wanted to do that from the moment I met you. You were just so WOW! So beautiful and poised and you saw me even though I was trying to be invisible.”

“When you left all I can think about was you. If you hadn’t come back I’m not ashamed to admit that I would probably have made shameful use of my money to try and get close to you again.”

“For the record, I can be easily swayed by flowers and food… especially food.”

“Darling, I worked that out a long time ago. Why do you think I let you ruin my diet with doughnuts?”

“Doughnuts are an essential food group, Lena!”

“For someone that needs an insane amount of calories, maybe. For me, it means more time at the gym. Oh my god! That time you went with me to soul cycle… you were faking the whole time!”

“I just wanted to spend time with you!”

“Just so you know, I will be inventing an exercise machine that will make even you work up a sweat.”

Lena’s narrow-eyed, playful stare had Kara twitching in her seat in no doubt that if anyone could do it without stripping her of her powers like the DEO did, it would be her.

“Does that mean I can kiss you again though?” Kara asked hopefully as Lena pressed a final button that had the engines started with a whine and started climbing from the pilot seat. Cool fingers wrapped around her jaw and Kara followed their guidance and tilted her head for the far too brief but heady kiss Lena bestowed upon her.

“Wow,” she breathed, her lips and then body chasing after Lena as she shimmied past with a smile and moved to the main cabin of the jet to strap herself in. She looked back over her shoulder, her eyes twinkling in the light with sultry intent and like a moth chasing after the light that guided her, Kara followed as the plane slowly taxied into position. “I hope you programmed the coordinates in right.”

“Me too,” Lena said with as much gravitas as she could muster as Kara’s jaw dropped as the engines whined and the plane shot down the runway. “Relax, darling,” leaning forward, she lightly patted Kara’s tense knee. “You were a distraction but I checked carefully. And if not, I’m sure you’ll be there ready to rescue me.”

“I might just save all the food instead,” Kara pouted back. “Speaking of—”

“Go at a human speed,” Lena called after her as Kara barely even waited for the plane to level off before setting her eyes on the storage in the closed-off galley area. “One thing I haven’t been able to account for is a ravenous Kryptonian speeding around the cabin.”

Before long, Kara was seated back in front of her with a mound of food clasped within her arms and a sheepish look on her face that faded as she smiled at her reassuringly. “I guess it can’t be easy keeping your body fuelled as much as it needs with the judgement of others.”

“No,” Kara shrugged. “School was the worst. Just another thing that could make me stand out. Once I left it wasn’t so bad, until I started using my powers and then the need for calories went up. You never had me feel bad about it though even when I could get through a full dozen doughnuts while you ate just one.”

“And don’t think I didn’t see you eyeing that one up sometimes,” she teased. “I used to have an eating disorder for many years,” she admitted, her voice cracking with the memories of what she had gone through at boarding school and beyond as Lillian had managed to control her even with a physical distance between them. “It’s still a struggle sometimes to block out the voices of others saying I was too fat and not pretty enough, and make sure I eat enough.” Lena held up a hand as Kara leaned toward her ready to rush to her rescue. “You helped with that with all the times you visited out of the blue and gave me a chance to step away from my desk and just enjoy more than a salad.”

Kara ached with the need to hold Lena and make her feel better but she could see that Lena was struggling to hold onto her control so she held out a small plate with a sweet treat on she had picked out just for her. “Doughnuts are a food group. Kale should be thrown into the sun.”

“I think you’ve just got an irrational fear of anything green,” Lena smiled at Kara’s expression of disgust from just saying the word ‘kale’ as she pulled a small piece from the doughnut.

“Not everything.”

Lena’s teasing laugh fell away, heat burst and pooled within her as Kara’s steady gaze locked onto her eyes intently and the way her teeth sank into her bottom lip that was were still blushed and swollen from their kiss.

“You shouldn’t look at me like that right now, Kara.”

“Why not?”

“Because— because—” Lena couldn’t remember why not, not with how Kara was brushing her thumb across her lips like that and looking at her like she would like to eat her more than pot stickers!

Kara, if you keep looking at me we’re not going to make it to Kaznia because I will be asking you to do things that not even the structural integrity of this plane can survive.”

Shuffling forward to the edge of her seat, Kara leaned closer, invading Lena’s space so utterly she could feel even her softest, panted breath against her cheek. “Just knowing you want me that much— That will do until we can be together.”

Breathing heavily, Lena leaned back into the plush seat and struggled to regain her composure as Kara leaned back looking far too smug and composed. “This new confident side is— It’s— it’s very confident.” Somehow resisting the urge to facepalm at her sudden lack of ability to word, Lena pouted and tried to remember all the times she was able to bring meetings of entitled misogynistic men to heel with a cutting comment, as Kara just looked more smug and composed.

“It just feels good to be able to admit how I feel to myself and to you and not to have to hold back. Unless it makes you too uncomfortable?”

“More pleasantly surprised, darling. And maybe caught a little off-guard… for the moment. I’m sure I’ll recover.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Kara purred, an intense feeling of satisfaction washing through her as Lena gave another whimper. “If you don’t mind me asking, when did you work out you liked women too?”

“I’ve always known. But, as you found out yourself, children can be cruel. I wasn’t from a different planet but in typical dramatic teen fashion, I felt like one at boarding school. I was a bit of a nerdy goth; black makeup, piercings from the moment I could get away with them. Short and dumpy with too-pale skin and a rich family name that made everyone instantly hate me. I looked the part of the rebel but I was also at the top of all my classes and taking advanced college-level ones too which made everyone hate me more.”

“Young Lena sounds interesting.”

“Young Lena was a bitch,” Lena sighed sadly. “I was acting out because I couldn’t work out who I was,” she sighed. “You asked when I knew though… I guess, looking back it was in fifth-grade but I didn’t know it until much later. Cindy Ryan stole my boyfriend off me and in typical Luthor fashion, I plotted and got my revenge by publishing her diary for the whole school. I think that was the first time that mother was really proud of me. It wasn’t until years later that I realised that I hadn’t cared about my boyfriend, in fact, I can’t even remember his name. I was upset with Cindy because I had a big fat crush on her.”

“I still think young Lena sounds adorable,” Kara smiled as she brushed her thumb across the silky soft skin of Lena’s wrist. “It sounds silly but, do you think young Lena would have liked younger me?”

“Kara, I’ve seen pictures of you from that time. You were a little older than me but it’s safe to say that if we’d been at school together it would have been ‘Cindy who?’” she blushed. “You might have even have been able to stop me going too goth.”

“I would have liked to have seen that though… did you keep any pictures?”

“Knowing my luck, some survived.”

“I hope so,” Kara grinned in anticipation at the thought of getting her hands on one. “So after Cindy?”

“Ever the reporter, Ms Danvers.”

“All completely off the record… unless I find a goth Lena photo to back it up.”

“Mhm. After Cindy, there was no one for a while. I was far too busy. I guess though that I knew that what I wanted was different than my peers. I sowed my wild oats in some very private encounters that barely lasted the night and then Jack I fell in love with for his brains. We had the same passion and goals with our plan to cure cancer together. But after Lex, we drifted apart. He wouldn’t leave Metropolis and his research to follow me and… I didn’t care enough to give up on what I needed to do. After that, things kind of got too busy for me.” And she had kind of fallen in love with her supposedly straight best friend.

“Until James?”

“James was definitely a mistake. We were not _at all_ compatible. I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with. No,” she quickly interrupted Kara. “I’m really not and you know it. I’m stubborn and screwed up at the best of times. James disrespected my position and could only seem to say the right thing after you had to talk to him. A relationship shouldn’t be like that. You should not have been in a position like that and I’m sorry it ever got like that for you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t yeet him into the sun for you. I’m sorry I ever made that stupid comment about there being chemistry between you.”

“So you should be… I was flirting with you that night. Sam was infected by Reign, she gets an out but you. You have got some serious making up for.”

“Making up in the form of kisses?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’ll make you eat a kale salad every day for a month.”

“I— I guess I kind of deserve that. Or! Or I could do kisses, daily massages and I’ll be your chauffeur to and from work?”

“So, what you’re saying is that you want to put Frank out of a job?”

“No! That’s! Lena…” she whined pitifully, batting her eyes to try and soften Lena away from forcing her down the path of leafy greens.

“You are terrible, Kara,” Lena laughed, knowing from the moment Kara gave her that look, that she was lost. That look was what Lena would have called her Kryptonite before Kara had keyed her in on what that substance was really like for her to be around. Everyone, herself included, had just thought it was a weakness but it was weakness just like being exposed to a radioactive substance was to humans.

That look though, that and her super-pout was another of Kara’s superpowers and anyone that knew her, was powerless against it even though they knew damn well they were been manipulated by the walking ball of sunshine crossed with a golden retriever puppy.

“We’ll work out the details later.” Smirking, Lena took her life into her hands and swiped one of Kara’s beloved pot stickers right off her plate. As power moves went, it was risky and brazen; no one came between Kara and food! But, after glaring at her plate so hard Lena wondered if she wasn’t going to set her heat vision off, Kara actually held it out, offering her another one. It could have been a trap. It screamed trap. But Lena took another, watching as a look of contentment settled on Kara’s beautiful face as she bit into it.

“Kara, why did you keep pushing me towards James?”

Kara sighed at the question. “It was the worst decision in my life and I can only blame the fact that I still struggle to know what is normal even after all these years. I was miserable with Mike… with Mon-El, but Alex kept pushing me his way like I was supposed to forgive everything he kept doing just because he was from a planet that was near Krypton. I felt like I was supposed to love him and settle even though he was the worst. James… I’ve got no excuse. He was terrible towards you because of Lex and I was so jealous every time I saw you together,” she laughed at herself, remembering how often she’d nearly taken chunks out of desks and walls because of her feelings of jealousy. “I hated seeing him touching you but I didn’t know why that was.”

Lena hummed softly beneath her breath, her fingers plucking and mauling at a napkin she had been wiping her fingers on. “We’re not exactly the best judges of what makes a good relationship, are we?”

Kara quickly reached across and wrapped Lena’s hands within the cocoon of hers, stilling their restless mauling of the napkin. She knew that look on her face, the way the shutters slid into place and the walls built behind it to protect her heart from the hurt she had been taught was hers to endure.

“Maybe we’re not,” she admitted. “But, for me, this,” she gestured between them, “this, is the first time I’ve felt this way with anyone. This is the first time it’s felt right and safe and yet so exciting for all the right reasons. I’m scared, Lena. When I’m with you it feels like flying for the first time even though I know I can soar. It’s that leap into the unknown and yet all I have to do is think of you, look at you, hear you… Touch you. And I know everything will be okay because I’ll be taking that leap with you.”

“You do realise that statistically the chances of us working—”

“We’re both scientists, Lena. Don’t you want to experiment? Maybe things won’t work out for us. But, if you’re willing to take a chance, I wouldn’t mind seeing where we end up.”

“It won’t be easy—”

“It might not be hard either,” Kara countered gently. “Apart from when your mother finds out.”

“Holy shit! She’ll break out of prison just to try and kill you herself when she finds out we’re together.”

“So, we’re together?” Kara grinned hopefully.

“I just told you my mother will up her campaign to kill you and that’s your response?”

“I’ll win her around one day and make her love me just for the chance to call you my girlfriend.”

“You are such a sap, Kara Danvers.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Let’s try a couple of dates first before we plunge into girlfriend and extra murderous mother territory.” It should have been words that should have had Kara back peddling at the thought of even thinking of starting a relationship, it would have that effect on anyone else. But, Lena could almost see Kara already trying to work out the best way of winning over Lillian Luthor. It scared her and made her feelings for Kara deepen all the more.

And, in a way, that scared her more.

As a couple, they shouldn’t work. They were so different and yet, strangely, they did. Even after all the secrets, there was still a trust between them that Lena had never felt with anyone else… well, apart from one other person and that just made everything really complicated.

“Do you think Linda will be there?”

Lena’s entire body jerked in shock as Kara somehow managed to pluck the name right out of her head and waved it between them.

“What?”

“At the base or whatever it is in Kaznia.”

“I don’t know—I guess it’s possible, she’s never said where she goes or what she does. I feel like she must have a place somewhere close to National City though.”

“Oh?”

“Just a feeling. Even allowing for super-speed she’s never seen leaving the city limits unless she’s off doing something for Lex. I considered trying to put a tracker on her at one point to see where she went.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“For the same reason that I didn’t do that to you. It’s not exactly a good starting put for a relationship. I want Linda to trust me… hopefully, it won’t take three years with her. Sorry,” she held up a hand in apology. “That was uncalled for and, honestly, I didn’t mean it.”

“I kind of deserved it though.”

“No, you don’t. What you said to me when you found out about the Kryptonite, that hurt a great deal, even more when I found out that it was you saying that, believing that. But your identity was always your secret to tell. Knowing me, I would have had a kneejerk reaction to you telling me either way. After all, I am a Luthor, we are not known for subtle responses. But that I would like to think my reaction would have been for being fooled by the worst disguise in history.” Lena narrowed her eyes as Kara gave a wry smile of apology and fiddled with her glasses.

“But my main pain was because it was Lex that took that away from you, from us, through Eve. I know it was him, there is no way she would have written down anything he hadn’t told her too.”

Lena blinked down at the strong hands holding hers once more with the utmost care and finally dared to look higher to the perfect blue of Kara’s eyes. “You said you would have told me, that you wanted to tell me, but right now there’s still a nasty voice in my head that sounds disturbingly like a combination of Lex and mother,” she shuddered at the thought. “And it keeps whispering that you wouldn’t have.”

“I would have,” Kara whispered urgently. “I swear to you, Lena. I have wanted so often to tell you. I’ve come so, so close. And I know I can’t prove that but it’s the truth. I was just so afraid that I would lose you and I know that’s a terrible thing to put on you when you’ve done nothing to deserve it but I was just so scared that I would lose you,” she sniffled.

“I’m still here, Kara,” Lena gentle assured her. “I’m still right here. If you want me to be?”

Kara pressed forward, laying her forehead against Lena’s as she breathed in the peace that settled between them. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Better,” holding up a hand, she crooked her little finger invitingly much to Lena’s obvious and adorable confusion. “Pinkie promise.”

Lena rolled her eyes a little but eagerly slid her little finger against Kara’s before she could resend the offer. It was such a simple thing, the kind of promise that couldn’t be enforced by contracts and teams of lawyers and yet it meant everything.

“Such a sap,” she smiled fondly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - omg, I had a major panic attack part way through this one trying to work out which version on the reveal was in this... the joys of writing 3 SC based stories at the same time o.O I blame the gifs and pics of Saskia making out with a woman in a bathtub for my lack of brains too so I am going to be so screwed by the time that show is over :p
> 
> Anyway... lot of talking things through with them this chapter and I dithered a great deal with this as to who should get the first kiss with Lena but Kara kind of stepped up to the plate and claimed that before Linda could return to the story.
> 
> Yet another AN - Comment moderation is on on all my SC fics right now basically because the crazies seem to be out and about on Twitter. One who I ran into earlier that seemed to think all fic writers should not write for non-canon ships and should give rep to canon ones only. They also said that all published books were really fan fiction so that was why we should be writing canon... to be honest, that part lost me cause surely officially published books have guidelines to follow on what can be in them and that would mean it's not even fan fiction. Also FF is not allowed to be published to be sold cause of copyright laws and all SC fans are evil because we harass the actors -_- . Anyway, I don't want to talk about that any more and I was just worried the crazy might spread so mod is on for now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena visit Kaznia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ^^^ before the angst of season 5 starts, have 2 dancing goofballs

“Kara.”

Murmuring softly in denial of the lilting wakeup call, Kara snuggled down deeper into the softness of the bed beneath her and pulled the sweetly scented body pillow she was clutching closer.

“Kara, darling. You need to let me up.” Not that letting her sleep on wasn’t tempting, Lena admitted with a soft smile as she looked down at the head of golden-blonde curls pressed to her breasts. Lena had intended to spend the long flight working and researching but Kara had derailed her plans and had insisted that they should make use of the fully reclining seats and watch a movie. And, of course, the only way to enjoy a movie was with a friend and a copious amount of snacks.

With the cabin lights dimmed and her best friend, and maybe something more, pressed intimately against her side, Lena had wondered if Kara wasn’t going to needlessly try and seduce her way into the mile-high-club, but no, Kara was too serious about her inflight Disney movies and snacks for that.

“Kara.” Lena tried again. Combing her fingers through the softness of Kara’s hair, she brushed it back from her face to reveal the sleep softened lines of her face. She had seen Kara’s face up close before and had had the chance to study her during lunches, brunches, second breakfasts, games nights, movie nights and all the other reasons they had found to stay within each other’s orbits, but this felt different since they had kissed. Now Lena was allowed to look without worrying that she would get caught looking at her too hungrily. She was allowed to run the tips of her fingers across the sharp line of that perfect jaw and follow the constellation of freckles dusted across her cheekbones.

The freedom was breath-taking, tantalising, and probably best left for when they weren’t moments away from landing without permission or backup in enemy territory,

“Kara, if you don’t let me up I’ll arrange for pot stickers to be banned around the world.”

That finally worked in getting Kara to wake up and let go of the death grip she had on her clothes. Almost a little too well as, in response to the threat, Kara spun them both around and sat bolt upright and nearly tossed her across the plane.

“Lena!” Wrapping her arm securely around Lena’s waist, Kara held her against her side as she swallowed down the beat of her heart. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“So I just found out,” Lena chuckled as she righted herself in Kara’s arms and patted her gently on the cheek. “Now, could you let me up, darling. We’re nearly there and I want to check everything is okay with the headings and landing details. And you might want to change and do any last-minute refuelling.” She smiled as Kara’s stomach gave a hopeful growl at the mention of food.

“You wouldn’t _really_ get pot stickers banned would you?”

“Hmm, best not to push me and find out, don’t you think.” Lena winked at Kara’s horrified expression and took advantage of her suddenly lax grip to extradite herself and climb to her feet. “Ten minutes and we should be ready to land.”

Even though time was obviously of the essence, Kara stayed right where she was and watched as Lena made her way to the front of the plane looking as poised and calm as she did pretty much did with everything else in life. Kara knew that was _her_ disguise though; the Lena Luthor version of the super-suit she wore into battle in the boardroom and, far too often, into actual battle. The Lena that glanced back at her over her shoulder with a soft smirk on her lips before she took a seat behind the controls, that was the Lena that Kara craved to see. The one that had her heart swooping and soaring even more than flying did. There was a softness and joy to her that had always made Kara want more, even when she had been confused about the depths of her desires and that maybe ‘friends’ didn’t lavish gifts and time on each other quite the way they did and they didn’t ache for just a moment more of time together.

Quickly changing into the suit she had briefly adopted when she had been infected by red Kryptonite, Kara grabbed a freshly warmed serving of pot stickers and made her way to the front of the plane and retook the seat at Lena’s side. She hated the suit and the need for subterfuge but thanks to Lex and Red Daughter, Supergirl was not as welcome around the globe as she had one been. If she had been alone, Kara would have risked it but she was very much not alone and if wearing dark clothing helped keep Lena safe, it was worth the shameful memories that went hand in hand with the suit.

And if her actions that night got mistaken for Red Daughter’s, then so much the better after the crimes and fear Linda had caused wearing a copy of her super-suit. Kara kept that to herself though rather than risk a disapproving rebuke from Lena.

Lena who was looked outwardly calm and in control at her side as she focussed on the many switches and levers that made up the controls, but Kara saw the tightness around her fierce green eyes and her sharp jawline and the way the muscles of her neck stood out a little more than normal.

With Kara, it was, much to her frustration, the cursed crinkle that appeared between her eyebrows that apparently gave her away. For Lena, those were the tells to look for.

“What’s wrong?” Kara questioned as she popped a pot sticker in her mouth and waited for Lena’s reply.

“We’re close enough to see the runway but…” lifting her hand, Lena gestured towards the blackness beyond the window. “They’re not exactly advertising their position and inviting anyone to land. I’m still trying to work out if that’s a good or bad thing.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Always,” Lena answered without hesitation.

“Then cut the engine. I’ll take us in.”

“You want me to—! I’m rethinking that ‘always’,” Lena finished under her breath, which of course meant that Kara could still hear her perfectly clearly.

“No you’re not,” Kara smiled. “Cut the power, Lena. I’ve got this.”

Lena trusted technology more than people. The technology she created anyway. Technology was simple, it did what it was designed for, what it was programmed for, and didn’t let you down when both were done right. Lena trusted technology over everything and everyone— apart from Kara.

Without even knowing Kara’s plan, Lena ran her fingers across the controls of her plane and turned off everything that was keeping them in the air, and silenced all the alarms that blared out an ‘ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND!?’ in high-pitched tones of beeps and squarks. Finally, all that was left was an eerie silence broken by the sound of wind rushing across the sleek surface of what was now an expensive rock waiting for gravity to take over.

There was a brief increase of wind noise as Kara opened the door but it was gone almost before it could register and then Lena felt the slightest of shudders running through the plane as its weight was taken upon strong shoulders.

With the instruments off and the blackness of night surrounding them, Lena was blind to anything that was happening outside the plane and she hated it! The scientist in her wanted to catalogue everything whilst her human nature wanted to see what was coming and to be in control of her own fate. She kept her hands off the controls though, even going so far as to sit on them at one point as she felt the plane slow and bank slightly.

She trusted Kara. But, flying really was not Lena’s favourite thing and it was hard to go against her nature. But! She trusted Kara! So, she let it go. The control. The fears. Climbing from the seat, she walked away, entrusting that Kara would keep her safe as she always did and moved to the back to change into a tactical suit similar to the one she had once worn when working with the DEO but improved upon.

“Lena, we’re— Rao!” Kara froze, her mouth agape as she took in the pale expanse of flesh on display as Lena pulled up the top of the figure-hugging tactical suit. Thanks to Lena’s style of dressing, Kara had seen far more of her the last time they had gone to a gala together but then she was dressed! This was not dressed! And her fingers itched to trace the path of freckles that lay like dark points across the softness of her pale skin.

“Would you mind, darling? I forgot how tight these things are to squeeze into.” Lena carefully hid the smirk she was certain was on her face as Kara let out something that sounded like a choked squeak and a high-pitched whine. She then found herself having to fight back her own as Kara’s strong hands skimmed across her bare flesh as she stepped up and eased the top of the tactical suit over her shoulders so she could finish fastening it.

“Very practical.” And tight, _very_ tight.

“Why does that shock you so much?”

“Asks the woman that tried to go on a hike wearing Louboutin’s with five-inch heels.”

“In all fairness, you didn’t tell me we were going on a hike,” Lena pointed out, emphasising her rebuke with a playful arch of her brow. “And this time, look, practical, custom-made, Louboutin’s.”

“Custom made?” Kara eyed the shiny black leather of the sleek ankle boots with the hint of red showing on the sole that Lena was wearing. The _looked_ more practical. Slightly. The heel still looked a little on the high side taking into account Lena’s running style which Lena willingly described as ‘awkward flail’.

“Yes. If we’re lucky, no one will have to see how.”

Kara would have been more inclined to believe her words if Lena hadn’t had a look of pure anticipation on her face that had Kara already feeling sorry for whoever might end up on the receiving end of her demonstration.

“Is anything going on out there?”

“No.” Just to be on the safe side, Kara focussed her sight through the plane using her x-ray vision so she could see the scattering of squat buildings that lay beyond the runway. “No sign of life at all but there’s a whole area under the buildings that I can’t see.”

“Seeing as any government or enterprising billionaire with a satellite can see that this is a military base, there’s only a select number of people that it is protecting them from.”

“Yeah, me and Superman.”

“And Linda.” Lena raised a brow in response to the startled climbing of Kara’s. “You really think my brother isn’t hiding things from her too?”

“I— I never really thought of it,” she admitted. “If it was me here though I would be checking out why I couldn’t see.”

“Linda was born into this, Kara. She doesn’t know she should be questioning anything, any more than an animal born in captivity does. Sometimes it might look at what beyond its bars but it doesn’t know it shouldn’t be there or that it’s been mistreated. Even if she does question what’s there, they could tell her any number of things; that it’s just a natural occurrence; that she isn’t powerful enough.”

“Or maybe she knows.”

“Or maybe she knows,” Lena admitted reluctantly.

“I know you don’t want to believe that—”

“No, but I’m not naive either, Kara. Just because I want to believe the best of Linda and give her every opportunity to break away from Lex doesn’t mean I don’t know the risks. She could be playing me for a fool all along or she might simply decide once she knows everything that Lex is right all along. I’m not going to write her off just yet though but I do know.”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Lena.”

Lena trapped the hand Kara cupped her cheek with and pressed the warmth of it closer. Closing her eyes, she basked in the contact for a moment before turning her head and pressing a kiss to her palm. “Let’s see what we can find out here, okay? We’ll worry about Linda, wherever she is, later.”

Wrapping her arm around Lena’s waist, Kara pulled her gently closer. They were in a potentially very dangerous situation and yet she couldn’t help but lose herself in the intimate contact more than she should as Lena’s front pressed against hers. With their eyes locked, she drowned in the sea of spring green as she lifted them off the ground and flew them across the open ground that lay between where she had placed Lena’s plane for safety and the nearest of the building’s. Kara would have preferred it if Lena would have agreed to stay with the plane but she knew better than to put it to her and risk her just heading off on her own anyway.

Lena’s hand stills hers as she reaches for the handle of the door. A lift of her chin pointing to the wires barely showing around the edge of the door. Kara hadn’t seen it. Even knowing it was there it was all but impossible but Lena had known what to look for.

“One of Lex’s dirty tricks,” Lena explained. “One of the stable hands embarrassed him one summer in front of a girl he liked and Lex rigged nasty little traps everywhere until he quit. He perfected them using me as a test subject. X-ray here and… just about here,” Lena pointed to two spots on the door and told her what to look for and how to deactivate each kind of trap they might come across. “This one used to be a favourite of Lex’s, a small explosive that used to just leave a small burn on the hand. I doubt any he’s left will be so small or ‘innocent’ though.”

“Innocent?”

“That was how mother and father used to defend him,” Lena snorted. “Boys being boys. That tired stupidity parents trot out to help perpetuate bad behaviour instead of admitting that they need help. Every year, young girls are told that everything they do, even the clothes they wear, is a temptation that boys can’t be expected to resist rather than the boys been taught that no means no.”

Huffing in frustration, Lena pointed to a specific spot on the door. Kara’s eyes glowed in the darkness and a small beam of light struck exactly the right spot and burned a small hole in the reinforced door.

“Let me check this first.”

“Lee—” Kara reached for her but, despite her speed, Lena slipped through her grasp and through the door.

“Wait there a minute!”

“Lena!”

“It’s Kryptonite, Kara. Let me make it safe.”

Just the name of the substance was enough to have a visceral effect on Kara that had her taking a half step back but no more than that. Even if being near it wouldn’t hurt Lena, it was still in an explosive and Kara would take on any number of them to stop Lena from getting hurt by just one.

She pushed through the door and felt the effects of it immediately as green streaked through her veins like a wildfire. Above the pain, she heard Lena’s heart race in fear and surged toward her.

“Stubborn idiot!” Slamming the lid on a lead box she had found, Lena caught Kara by the arms and pushed her back while she recovered. “When I say give me a minute that means a minute, not two seconds.”

“That was strong!”

“That,” Lena sighed, “is because that was some of the strongest, purest form that I made for if Sam was beyond help.” Lena braced herself for the accusations or for Kara to pull away before she could explain herself but she remained lax in her arms.

“How did Lex get a hold of it? Eve?”

“Look at the boxes, Kara,” she gestured to the lead box and several others of various sizes laying on shelves and on the floor, all of them bearing a familiar logo. “They’re all DEO boxes; alien tech and weapons. Theoretically, Eve _could_ have taken some when I was creating it but I was very careful about keeping track of it so I’m pretty certain that it’s the Kryptonite I handed in to the DEO.”

Kara could feel the quiver of barely contained fury running beneath Lena’s skin as she rubbed soothing circles across the backs of her hands and up along her arms. There was a slim possibility that the Kryptonite had been stolen from the DEO but even if it had, it had to have been an inside job which meant that it was another betrayal.

“You should leave—”

“And what, leave you here alone with Lex’s traps? That is not going to happen, Lena.”

“You could get _hurt_ , Kara! You could get hurt and it would all be my fault!”

“You’re not the one setting traps, Lena—”

“No. But it is the Kryptonite I made that’s in them.”

“That you made to save our friend.” Kara gently tightened her hold on Lena before she could storm away and lose herself if guilt only she was inflicting on herself. “I was a terrible friend about that but I don’t regret that you managed to save Sam. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“And just like you feared, it’s out there now being used against you again. I should have finished the Kryptonite suit before we came—”

“You made me another suit?”

“That is what you got from that? Of course, I’ve been making you a suit, Kara. How could I not after what you told me about Kryptonite?”

“The DEO didn’t. They had access to Kryptonite for years Lena and you know what they did with it? They created weapons, more than Lex could even have dreamed up. When I first came out as Supergirl, they shot me down with it to prove a point and to try and get me to give up on my desire to help others. When I started working with them, they used it to weaken me for training and Alex was forced to use a blade made from it to kill my Aunt. You. You heard just once how it made me feel and made a suit that saved my life.”

“I like your sister but the DEO have always been complete arseholes!”

It was a serious moment but Kara couldn’t help but beam at the forceful tone of Lena’s expletive and how her usually carefully contained Irish accent bled out all over it in all its unrestrained glory. Lena’s eyes narrowed at her knowingly but not even that was enough to restrain her joy from that one word because it was for her.

“What is that look for?”

“Nothing,” Kara grinned. “We’d better get moving just in case anyone is lurking around.” Placing her hand on the small of Lena’s back, Kara urged her forward deeper into the building and whatever traps Lex had left for them. “I really like your accent.”

Lena narrowed her eyes as she caught the way Kara was biting her lip and glancing at her with bright eyes. “Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Hmm. I’ve been told it comes out more in the bedroom,” she purred lowly.

“Rao!” Her feet froze at the thought and her whole body jolted so hard she nearly left the ground if not for Lena’s grounding touch that skimmed across her back and hip as she pressed her forward.

**********

“Still clear for troops or bald brothers?”

“Yes, all clear. Too clear?” Kara focussed her gaze upon the floor of the room just as she had every other one in the building but it was too heavily protected by lead for her to see anything other than blackness where it blocked her.

“There’s got to be an entrance here somewhere.”

“Maybe it was in one of the other buildings and we just didn’t find the entrance?”

“Could be,” Lena sighed in frustration. It stood to reason that it wouldn’t be easy but she wanted their trip to Kaznia to be over quickly so that there was less chance of them running into anything worse than they already had.

Amongst all the traps, the worst thing they had found so far had been in one of the smallest of the buildings that was little more than a dank, windowless cell with a mouldy cot as the lone item of furniture. It could have and would have been easily overlooked as it was obviously in no fit state for a human to use. But then, the many photographs on the wall showing snippets from their lives were proof that no human had used it.

At the sight of it, Kara had twitched at her side, her fists clenching in anger that Lena had thought was because of the invasion of her privacy. But while that was obviously a factor, it had been the lack of windows and sun that had bothered Kara the most and Lena had quickly gotten her out of there when the anger had started to morph into a panic attack because of the tight space.

Resigned to looking through the buildings again, Lena made to walk out of the bare office they were in but Kara was blocking her way, her body frozen as still as a statue as she looked at the wall.

“Kara?”

“There’s something behind that shelf.” Stepping around Lena, Kara pulled a mouldy dustsheet off an old bookcase that was distorted and bent by the damp that had soaked into the wood and warped it.

Tilting her head, Lena read the spines of the two books that had been left behind as Kara easily pushed the bookcase aside. A shock travelled up and down her spine when she saw that one was _The Great Gatsby,_ while the other was the subject of the painting that the bookcase had hidden.

“Alexandra The Great.” One thing that could be said for Lex was that if all else failed, he could have a pretty decent career as a master forger if he could learn to put aside his ego. Even on the less that idea material of the damp brick wall, he had managed to recreate an almost perfect copy of the original art… apart from the fact that he had replaced Alexander’s face with his own.

“I’ve seen this painting before,” bending down, Kara studied the brushstrokes and the details. “The original version that is. Can’t say that it was a favourite of mine but as well as _that_ ,” she gestured to Lex’s smirking face, “this shield wasn’t on the original either.”

Leaning closer, her hand braced on Kara’s shoulder, Lena couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the very out of place shield with the stylized ‘L’ in Lex’s penmanship on it. She should have realised how out of place it was too but she had been so horrified at the sight of Lex she’d overlooked it. Kara looked up at her, the blue of her eyes twinkling in anticipation as she reached for the shield and pressed her fingers to it before Lena could let out a warning to be careful.

There was a click and the round shield sank into the wall.

A series of mechanical clicks started up and Lena found herself staring at the solid expanse of Kara’s back, feeling the muscles twitch beneath her hands as she placed herself protectively in front of her.

Despite all the loud clicks of gear and bolts shifting, when the expanse of wall moved, it was with a well-oiled silence as it slid aside to reveal an alcove big enough for four people to stand in comfortably. Not that that was possible though as the floor had also slid aside to release the steady throbbing sound of distant machinery and revealed well-lit stairs that led down beneath the floor.

“Sure I can’t persuade you to head back to your plane?”

“You’ve got as much chance as I do at being able to get you to do the same.”

“Together then?”

“Always,” Lena smiled as she whispered the promise that was becoming theirs.

With the gap in the lead that had prevented her from using her powers. Kara was finally able to see a bit further as long as there was no lead to get in the way and she was able to hear more. Just as with her glasses though, simply being surrounded by it, it made everything feel muffled as though her head was stuffed with cotton. She put herself on the stairs first though and held Lena back even when they were wide enough for them to walk side by side.

Which earned her a glare and an exasperated huff.

“I know you don’t like to stand behind people but please, Lena. Let me protect you as you protected me from Mercy.”

“You really want to bring up that right now? Allergies, my ass,” she growled. “At least I managed to formulate a longer-lasting antihistamine after that.”

“That is so sweet,” Kara smiled at what Lena had done just because of a sneeze… even if it had been a sneeze to disguise the fact that she was blowing armed gunmen off their feet.

“I ran for you, Kara. You know I hate to run,” she poked her in the chest. “No, do not give me the puppy eyes, Kara. You made me run for no reason. I can and have forgiven you for the years of holding back your identity but that took it too far,” she narrowed her eyes at Kara playfully.

“I’ll make it up to you—”

“Kale.”

“What?” Kara recoiled away from the word.

“You want to make it up to me?”

Kara nodded uncertainly. Even though she could hear the teasing in Lena’s voice as well as see it in her eyes and more tellingly the way her teeth were tugging on her lip, the thought of kale had her on edge.

“Then, you either have a kale salad or a kale smoothie. In front of me. No using powers to magic it away or throw it into the sun. That’s the price for making me run.”

“Lena!” she, mostly, mock gasped in horror as Lena laughed at what she was sure was a horrified expression on her face. Kara liked this version on Lena; light and teasing despite, or maybe in defiance of, what was happening around them.

As the bottom of the stairs came into view, Lena’s hand tightened questioningly around her wrist. Above ground, everything had been worn and looked abandoned even though it had obviously been used. Down there it was sleek and modern, even that one simple corridor looking like it’d had more money pumped into it than the rest of the base.

“Still can’t hear anyone,” Kara answered the silently asked question. Even though she couldn’t hear more than the throb of machinery, she kept her voice low. The surroundings and the increased element of danger just demanded it.

“We should split up—”

“Lena—”

“Just to cover each side quicker,” Lena gestured down the length of the brightly lit corridor with the many doors branching off from it. “We keep in sight of each other and keep it fast, okay?”

Kara wanted to argue against any kind of splitting up but found herself nodding instead. “Just for here. And if you see anything, call and wait for me. I don’t want to lose track of you in here.”

“I am capable of taking care of myself.”

“That I don’t doubt but I still don’t want you to have to prove it, Lena. So, please?”

“Okay,” Lena relented easily. She gave Kara’s hand a squeeze in lieu of a kiss and nodded to the left side of the corridor to indicate the rooms there. “Stay close?”

“And stay safe.”

One last squeeze of fingers and they parted. Kara instantly missed the contact between and regretted their plan but, after checking the nearest door for traps, she opened it and went inside.

All the rooms were glass-fronted, leaving no room to hide and no privacy from anyone passing which was a relief as Kara didn’t even need to use her x-ray vision to make sure that Lena was okay, all she needed to do was look across and she could see her swiftly looking through files. The deeper they went, the more they looked, the more obvious it became that there was a mole in the DEO as there were so many files on the aliens and their weapons that they had faced and collected data on that could only have come from their archives. There was also a lot of information on Supergirl and the rest of them but that was curated differently, the details within the files handwritten in two styles, the language caustic and biting.

Lex and Eve. It had to be. There were details there that matched up with when Eve had started working at CatCo… including, Kara realised, details on how Eve had deliberately seduced Mon-El just so she could get samples off him— Ew!— and how Eve suspected she had used her x-ray vision to find them copulating in a closet. A memory Kara would have sooner have forgotten about. And not because of any betrayal but because, she realised now, the thought of a smoother, much more feminine body was much more appealing to think about.

“I know Lex hates all aliens but there is a lot of random stuff here.”

“It’s not random,” Lena looked behind them at the rooms they had searched and shuffled the chess pieces around in her head. “Lex is a master of both chess and manipulation. He never makes a wasted move. We just haven’t seen the whole board yet, Kara.”

**********

The next piece on the board of Lex’s game revealed itself as they moved through a double set of doors into a wider area and bright lights came on revealing the surgical tables they were suspended over. Several of the tables were occupied with body bags and others with bodies covered with white sheets as if to preserve the modesty of the occupant.

Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, Lena moved to the end of one of the tables and picked up a clipboard to read the notes. Stealing herself, she lifted the edge of the cover enough to confirm that they matched.

“Erm—” she took a steadying breath and tried to hold down her anger. Facts, stick to the facts! “They’ve been experimenting on them. This one died from a heart attack two weeks after been brought here from— Whatever they were doing, it says he lasted ten minutes.”

“Where was he brought from, Lena?” She’s noticed the hesitation in Lena’s voice and the way her eyes had widened.

Lena put the clipboard down. “The DEO desert facility. Don’t!” She threw herself into Kara’s path before she could peel the cover back. “Kara, don’t!”

“I need to know!”

“No, you don’t! If you caught them they were there for a reason. What happened to them was not your fault. And if you believe otherwise then I know you really blame me for everything done with the Kryptonite I created.”

“It’s not the same—”

“Yes, it is, Kara. So what is it? Are we victims too; our good deeds twisted by others? Or are we the villains? ‘Cause I was really hoping to get through this life without being the villain.”

“You’re not a villain. I still feel guilty though,” she admitted.

“I know. Don’t take offence but it’s very human of you. My usual approach would be to shove that into a tiny box in my mind but Brainy and Nia have both informed me that it’s not a very healthy coping mechanism so, what would you suggest?”

“Meditation. Talking it out with a therapist. Long cuddles with your best friend.” She paused for a moment to ease Lena into her arms and offer her a shortened version to shore them both up. “And kicking the ass of the one responsible.”

Leaning back in the cradle of Kara’s strong arms, Lena quirked a brow upward teasingly. “I’m surprised you didn’t mention food.”

“Food is a given for any situation, Lena. You know that.”

“Well, I’m not sure about meditation or a therapist—” She could already hear mother warning her about the danger of sharing her thoughts with strangers. Even ones bound by doctor/patient confidentiality. _‘Anything heard or written down can be found or shared by idle gossip, Lena!’_

“Lena—”

“But cuddles and kicking ass sound like fun.”

“And food?”

“And food,” Lena relented with a fond roll of her eyes.

**********

There were three levels hidden beneath the guise of the old military base; the remnants of the small countries small but proud armed forces that had been whittled down by poverty and picking fights against stronger forces. Above the ground, that was Kaznia. Below, that was all Lex with his laboratories and torture chambers all designed to test aliens for something that Lena still hadn’t quite worked out because there were pieces carefully removed from the board.

Apart from the few bodies they had found, there were no other aliens there alive or dead and there were rooms that had been carefully stripped to hide what experiments had been conducted there. The results were there, snippets of them anyway; left lying around or hidden in boxes with DEO and Amertek emblazoned damningly on them. All enough to lead them deeper into the building past a heavily fortified room filled with steam and glowing lights that screamed radioactive more than the warning signs on the door did…

Like breadcrumbs…

Like bait…

All leading them to the huge circular room they had found themselves in.

“Kara—”

“Hmm?”

“I think we should get out of here.”

_“It would be a shame for you to leave right now though!”_

“Eve?”

Lena looked around as all the doors that led into the room slammed shut with a more solid and fatalistic clang than normal doors should be capable of. Kara must have heard it too as she rushed from her side with a crack of sound as her body parted the air. She should have been able to rip through the door like it was tissue paper but her fists clanged against it.

_“Bang all you want, Kara. They’re made of Nth metal.”_

“That’s not enough to stop me!”

_“No. But that and your new friends should be enough to delay you! Sorry, not sorry!”_

“Friends?” Lena wished she’d never asked as two segments of the floor slid aside and two figures of what she could only assume had once been men lumbered into sight like low budget, zombified versions of Metallo.

There was so little of them left that Lena couldn’t say for sure if they had been human but just like Corben, they both had glowing pieces of exposed Kryptonite embedded into their chests, powering their strength and giving them weapons to fire at them. Tipping over a metal table, Lena ducked for cover as one of them turned and fired. The table was no match for the beam of Kryptonite but it withstood it better than her exposed skin would have.

“Kara!”

Lena grabbed her by the arms and yanked her back as she fell to the floor beside her. The front of her suit was smouldering where she had foolishly taken a direct blow but worse was the sight of the green glowing under her skin as it tracked the path of veins and nerves. She couldn’t take any more hits like that!

“Can you distract them for a moment… without getting hit?!”

“I— yes—” Kara ground out determinedly past the fire in her veins. She could see the glint of determination in Lena’s eyes glowing brighter and more fiercely than the Kryptonite and knew that somehow, Lena had managed to come up with something… hopefully.

Getting her feet under her was a chore but Kara managed it and, with Lena’s nod, she set off to play a dangerous game with the Kryptonite powered monsters. She had to get close enough to keep them interested in her and not Lena but not so close that she became too weak and left herself open to attack. It was a difficult balancing act that she failed at more than she would have liked but she kept going, stumbling along, her vision going green and fuzzy around the edges as Lena worked and occasionally cursed in a thick Irish brogue.

Stumbling to her knees, Kara decided there were worse ways to go out than hearing Lena calling her name.

“Kara!”

“Oh— Right—” blinking her vision clear, Kara rolled to the side. She could feel the heat from the beam of Kryptonite scorching a line across her shoulders but she paid neither it nor the blood dripping from her nose and mouth any mind as she focussed on the device Lena was throwing into the space between the two Metallos along with her order.

“Shoot it!”

The beam of her heat vision and barely left her eyes before Kara was knocked back from the side and found herself buried under Lena’s body and a metal table. Beyond the edges of the table, she heard and felt the concussive force of the explosive Lena had managed to _MacGyver_ together and the even larger one as the Metallos exploded.

With Kara’s help, Lena pushed the bent remains of the table that had protected them from the worst of the blast away and checked that they were truly out of commission. Seeing that they were… unless the fragments that were left managed to reform… Lena sat up. “That reminds me of some of the wilder parties at college. Not that you could prove I was ever at any of them. Are you okay?”

“Is it wrong that I’m wishing there wasn’t something digging into my back so I could enjoy this position?”

Blushing, Lena slapped Kara’s shoulder and scrambled off her body. “Yeah, you’ll be okay. Nothing that some pot stickers and pizza won’t fix.”

“And cuddles. Don’t forget the cuddles.”

“Can Kryptonian’s get a concussion? Come on,” holding out a hand, Lena pulled Kara to her feet and steadied her. “We need to get you out of here. That blast put them down but there’s still Kryptonite here. Do you think you’ve got enough strength to take down a door?”

“Hmm, probably not just yet. Might help if we clear a space of as much of the Kryptonite as we can.”

“I’m not sure we’ll have that kind of time,” Lena grumbled. “Eve did say they were a decoy. Which could just mean to give her or someone else time to get away but I’d rather not leave that to chance.”

“I used to like Eve.”

“Me too,” Lena sighed. “That was then though, right now I just want to put my fist through her face and for you to put yours through the wall right about… there,” she drew an imaginary cross on the wall to the of one of the doors that was the furthest away from the explosion and the Kryptonite laced debris. “As soon as you’re up to it.”

It took more strength than Kara would have liked but two punches later and the wall crumbled and peeled and Lena plunged into it grabbing at sparking wires with no regard for her own safety.

“Safety first, Lena! How are you allowed to work in any lab?”

“Kara, darling, why do you think I have secret labs? What the insurance companies and the board of directors don’t know won’t hurt them.”

“Labs? As in plural?”

“That’s what the word usually means.”

“Where?”

“Oh look!” Twisting several wires together, Lena smirked as the door slid open… mostly. It made it halfway through its cycle before the wires sparked and smoked, and melted together and forced Kara to step in and put out a flicker of flame with her freeze breath.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Lena grabbed up several files and pulled and tugged Kara along out of the room, guiding her until they were far enough away from the Kryptonite that she was able to recover her strength enough that she was able to take over the lead again now that they knew they weren’t alone.

They were still one level down when they felt the first explosion ripple beneath their feet and dust started to rain down from the corridor and the buildings above.

“Hold on!”

Kara wrapped her arms around Lena and too off, her body shielding the precious cargo in her arms as she dodged debris as the corridor started to collapse on all sides. She didn’t look back, but she could feel a wave of fire and Kryptonite chasing them; the effects of it nipped at her heels and clawed at her veins as she rocketed out into the night sky and back towards Lena’s plane as the buildings exploded and collapsed behind them.

“Kara!” Lena grabbed for Kara as groaned and went limp, her body a dead weight in her arms as soon as they were safely on the ground. “Stay here,” she gently pressed Kara back, encouraging her to lie on the ground. “I’ll be right back.”

“Lena—” groaning softly, Kara had little choice other than to watch as Lena made her way over to the open door of the plane and climbed inside to confront the figure she could see in the cockpit as the Kryptonite poisoning her system rendered her helpless.

**********

“Oh good, you found my plane.”

“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

Lena’s smiled widened as Eve picked up a shock baton from her side and waved it at her threateningly. “Really?” Reaching down, Lena pressed the release on the right heel of her boot and removed it. Seconds later the nanotech built into evened out the height and with a flick of her wrist, the blade built into the ‘heel’ deployed and Lena got the pleasure of watching Eve’s expression drop in shock as she slashed it through the air. “‘Cause I did. Before we begin, I should maybe mention something that Lex forgot to… I’m pretty good at fencing. Almost made it onto the squad for the Olympics.”

“Only almost?” Eve sneered.

“Oh, don’t get your hopes up, Eve. I was asked to leave after punching out an abusive coach.” Demonstrating her prowess with her fists as well as her blade, Lena threw a wild haymaker that would have had her Irish ancestors cheering and sent Eve reeling backwards with blood spraying from her mouth. “You wretched little traitor!”

Kara caught glimpses of the fight through the open door as she crawled towards it as Lena and Eve fought back and forth. Lena was, thankfully, the more skilled at fighting but she was limited in the use of her sword… she would never doubt Lena’s ‘killer’ heels again! But as big as the plane was, the interior was not made with swinging a sword around and Eve, like any cornered animal, was proving to be more scrappy that she looked.

“Lex is only using you, you know!”

“Lex loves me!”

Lena shuddered at the conviction on Eve’s voice and smirked as she registered a cry of ‘Ew!’ from outside the plane off Kara.

“You fool! The only person Lex loves is himself!” Ducking a wild swing from Eve, Lena planted her foot in her sternum and launched her out through the open door and over Kara’s head as she reached the top of the stairs. Pulling Kara in the rest of the way, Lena looked outside at Eve rolling around on the tarmac as she started to pull the door closed.

“Eve! Sorry, not sorry!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN - that chapter in no way went how it was originally mapped out in my head. Typical rogue muses. Lena did get to have some revenge against Eve though and I made it so she wouldn't topple over in uneven boots to lay the smack down on her :p


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